Ablaze Publishing 2019
Written by Ange & Patrick Renault
Illustrated by Charlie Adard
Coloured by Sébastien Gérard
Terry Fisher is a young soldier on the verge of being sent away for active military duty, and is going to meet his friends at the top of the Empire State Building for a farewell party. But suddenly a legion of vampires attacks the skyscraper and massacres its occupants. Hounded in the 102 floors that have become a deadly trap, Terry must take decisive action to save himself and his friends - and the city of New York - before the army of abominations, and the terrible vampire god within, walled in the building since its construction, spill into the city!
We haven't had a good Vampire story since The Strain and it's high time someone does anther epic saga. Unless I miss my guess, and I don't think I have, this right here is what we've been waiting for to fit that bill. This doesn't waste any time in getting right into things. There is no need for a long drawn out introduction and I really like this. We are introduced to just enough that it wets the appetite for more. We meet the characters, Terry and his friends, we see a great many things that occur and some of which we'll be totally wrong about. The way that this is set-up is just that beautifully done.
The story & plot development is extremely nice to see and how we learn what is happening through the release of information, or actions as the case may be, is of the kind that fuels the readers' desire to know more. The character development is interesting to me. We have a little time spent with Terry and getting to know him but really that's the extent for right now. Again an interesting tactic but with the flood of actions and what we see occurring this isn't a delve deep it's a fly by the seat of your pants character development. So we'll learn more as each issue progresses and I more than okay with that. When you add the pacing to the mix and we see the twists and turns and even a few revelations it creates this marvellous ebb & flow that it feels like the Automotrice Grande Vitesse. So as an action thriller it hits on every box of the checklist.
I am absolutely in love with the interiors here as well. Right from the first page you know this is going to be amazing as we see how Charlie is able to utilise the linework through it's varying weights to create the architecture to bring this to life as realistically as possible. Then we meet Terry and his friends and they are frakkin delightful. Different ethnicities, genders, body types making it feel that much more relatable to, the characters that is. There is one thing that we see utilised with great consistency which always makes me a happy camper and that's the backgrounds. So good at enhancing the moments and bringing us a sense of size and scale to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a truly stupendous eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered as well. I like how light sources are utilised and how the shadows and shading utilise various hues and tones within any given colour for that impact it needs.
This book is sensational from start to finish. The way this gets rolling and doesn't stop all the while engaging and thrilling readers' shows us what the next big horror epic is going to be. With strong story & plot development and interesting characterisation not to mention those twists and turns have turned one New Yorks, and the worlds, most iconic building into a deadly playgrounds where the stakes are higher than anyone is prepared to understand.................yet.