Dark Horse Comics 2019
Written by Christofer Emgard
Illustrated by Fernando Baldo
Coloured by Michael Atiyeh
Lettered by Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
Weeks into his pursuit of Mantis–the woman who murdered his partner–Division agent Caleb Dunne arrives in Philadelphia. Teaming up with fellow agent Heather Ward, he gathers clues to Mantis's whereabouts, running afoul of an aggressive militia called the Founders. *A must-have for fans of intrigue and tales of survival, this comics series is the perfect introduction to the post-pandemic world of Tom Clancy's The Division 2.
I am so digging this story. While I have no knowledge of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 it doesn’t really matter too much. I mean Christofer is doing such an amazing job with this story so far that it is easy to understand the state of the world and how the main characters fit into it. This issue we meet Heather who is out hunting and if you didn’t know better you’d think this was just another hunter out doing her thing and alone is sensational. Opening the issue this way was a stroke of genius as it almost deceives the eye and mind in such a way that it begs that continue on.
The way this is structured is so very well done. From the tense meeting between Heather and Dunne through the last page I have to say that the overall ebb & flow of the story is extremely nice to see. The mix of information, action and loss that comes in a world in this state is handled with some really exceptional flair. Also Christofer provides some stellar characterisation here and through the use of dialogue and narration/inner voice boxes we get a nice fuller picture of these people. There really is a nice blend of smarts happening with this and it could have ended up more in the realm of a shoot em up story so I greatly appreciate that we also get some solid mystery and intrigue.
One aspect of this that I find really intriguing is that this isn’t what we think of when we think of a post-apocalyptic world. So this really is something that pushes the boundaries of what’s familiar and sets the stage in in a way that will surprise people. There are a lot of guns in this version and a lot of folks have access to them. So the sheer fact that we get to see that middle grey area is more exciting for me personally.
There are some artists who are perfectly well suited to books and this is one instance where that couldn’t be any more true. The way that we see the linework utilised through it’s varying weights to create such fine attention to detail is bloody marvellous. I love seeing the fine lines that make these faces come to life utilised so effectively, making them unique and true to the ethnicity they have. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a stellar eye for storytelling. I think the way that the backgrounds are utilised really expand the moments and bring a size and scope to the book. The colour work is stupendous and how we see the light sources and the shading and colour gradation really cements the tone and feel of the book. There are also a few surprises and the creativity and imagination that we see is thrilling.
The journey is on and the hunt for a killer continues. Will Dunne now with Heather be able to find the woman who killed his partner or will they die before that happens? Anyone who starts this is going to stick with it and want to come back time and time again so I am hoping that this is just the first salvo in what will be continuous arcs through the mini-series format.