Zenescope Entertainment 2018
Written by Michael Dolce & Talent Caldwell
Illustrated by Tony Moy
Coloured by Jorge Cortes
Lettered by Michael Dolce
There are people on this Earth that do not belong. It’s up to a Chicago detective and a covert, interdimensional police force to send them back where they came from.
I love the whole concept of this book. Nate is a Chicago Detective who has a talent for seeing things in a certain way that helps him solve cases. He doesn’t feel like he belongs and from his auspicious upbringing you can almost see the puzzle pieces falling into place. I think that the guys do an extremely nice job here with how the book is structured and how we see the flow of information that gives the book it’s “meat” as well the substance to move forward is fun to see.
I very much enjoyed the opening of the series. No explanation given none needed because the whole thing plays out in a way that the imagination of the reader takes over and fills in the blanks. It really does wonders in grabbing the attention and making the reader want to continue. As the way it does continue and we see Nate and his buddy Dex and it’s here that we see Nate do his thing for the first time. You have to see this to really understand it and the way that Tony and Jorge manage to do just that is pretty freakin amazing!
There really is that natural flow to what we see occur on the pages and as Nate and Dex continue to talk and banter we see not only their familiarity but the trust the men have for one another. The way we see the real and special police work that Nate does has this way of enticing you and fascinating you while it’s kind off in a way you just can’t put your finger on. As a reader you get the idea of the premise behind what’s off but that doesn’t mean too much as it’s really just a trigger to whatever is behind it. There’s a reason the general populace doesn’t know much about all this and it’s something that I look forward to having explored but not totally.
The interiors to me look like a mix of hand drawn and computer finished because honestly I cannot see that effect of how Nate sees things being done any other way. There is the high probability that the whole thing is done digitally and if that’s the case it’s a mix of bravo and the need for consistency. Not all things we see look of the same quality though it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment factor it’s just something that I noticed. The way page layouts are utilised and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a great eye for storytelling. That backgrounds are so prevalent is something I love to see since they really do expand every moment they are in.
Once we get towards the end of the issue where Nate and Dex are trying to arrest the man responsible for the murder we saw in the opening are when things get a lot more strange for them. This is when we start going from buddy cop adventure in full blown science fiction story. The boys do such an incredible job with the transition as well and it all works so it feels like something we might’ve seen on Fringe. Only a little more high tech and I think about it it’s a lot like Fringe meets Sliders with armoured soldiers doing the sliding.
This is creative, imaginative and honesty the “future” tech feels like a natural extension of what we are already capable of doing. So all of what we see makes things incredibly fun and leaves the reader with desire to know and see more.