Evoluzione Publishing 2019
Created & Written by Dani Colman
Illustrated by Davide Tinto
Coloured by Francesca Carotenuto
Lettered by Justin Birch
Ruth and Richard Armentrout are the best paranormal investigators in the business, with decades of experience and dozens of bestselling books about their ghost-busting successes. There’s just one little detail: neither of them has ever actually seen a ghost - in fact, neither one even believes that ghosts exist.
I have to say that if you haven't seen anything from Evoluzione Publishing do yourself a favour and look em up! They have a slew of solid well told and illustrated books for a wide range of readers including YA stories as well. I always enjoy when I read their titles, while I need to review more of them in a timely manner that's on my list to improve, on your list should be looking at the books they offer.
I really like this concept here and while it isn't new by any stretch it is always fun to see these professionals who think they know it all find out they know nothing. The opening here is great and grabs the readers' attention straight away bringing with it the desire to see and know more. Also huge kudos to Dani for showing us the status of their relationship right off the bat in terms of both the dialogue and Davide's visual interpretation. It is easy to like Ruth and just as easy to see that Richard is a complete wanker so with their being at odds with each other and this case coming to them well it feels like serendipity.
The story & plot development that we see through the sequence of events unfolding as well as how the reader learns information is laid extremely well. The opening is all important and sets the stage and tone for the rest of the issue. Now there are plenty of clues placed throughout the book what each of them is up to and the one reveal was in humble opinion way too predictable and it would've much more interesting if there was a gender swap. The character development we see is amazing and I like how the tone is set in the first half of the book so that we can see how their personalities will change with these new circumstances and situations. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns and a few revelations it helps to create and maintain this really intriguing ebb & flow to the book.
I am an instant fan of Davide and Franesca after seeing their work here. I mean the linework is exquisite and how the varying weights are utilised to bring out this high level of quality in the attention to detail is stupendous. Plus the work on the faces, facial expressions and body language really help further the characterisation in ways that words alone cannot do. The way we see backgrounds utilised throughout the book and how they are seen within the composition inside the panels is mindbogglingly good. The depth perception, scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story that we get is super impressive. The inside of the house that Kylie and Hal have is truly beautifully rendered. The colour work is gorgeous and I love how we see the various hues and tones within the colours utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work. The colour blocking here is so amazingly well rendered that it shows this great eye for how colour is supposed to work.
This book is crazy good in how the story and character development progress and the interiors are drop dead gorgeous. This is what I am talking about when I tell you to look outside your normal view of the comics world. This is a must have for everyone and from what I am seeing here there is every chance that it once finished it'll qualify for limited series of the year.