Vault Comics 2020
Written by Tim Seeley
Illustrated by Devmalya Pramanik
The Anarch Tales
Written by Tini Howard & Blake Howard
Illustrated by Nathan Gooden
All Coloured by Addison Duke
All Lettered by Andworld
When Cecily Baine, a courier for the Twin Cities Camarilla, takes a mysterious young vampire under her wing, she’s dragged into an insidious conspiracy. Will she be able to escape with her unlife and protect her aging, Alzheimer’s afflicted sister, or will she be yet another pawn sacrificed to the Masquerade? Meanwhile, an Anarch coterie investigates a vicious killing."
When Ralph Kramden would threaten to send Alice to the Moon we always knew what that really meant. This book, we all knew was going to be good, but these guys actually sent us to the Moon with this. I can’t believe I have referenced The Honeymooner’s lol. Still that is one of the all time classic comedies and possibly the birth of comedy series as we know it and what does this have to do with the comic, well this, this is instantly a new epic classic story. After just one issue that’s even more impressive. I mean if you think it’s now worth reading cause it isn’t one of the big two then you aren’t a comics fan.
Before I get into this let me preface this by saying everything that follows applies to both stories, regardless of the writers or illustrators. This book flows like it’s been done by one person which again is a feat of an accomplishment. So everything I say is about everyone involved in this and not meant to be taken as one half or the other.
I adore the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. We are introduced to the characters, learn enough about their roles to have the curiosity piqued perfectly and left with the desire to know more. It’s too bad this wasn’t one of those double sized first issues. The character development is positively exquisite! Seeing them in action, interacting with one another and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they face has a way of beautifully showing us more than they’d (the characters) would like. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the world to us we are able to see how all of this works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
What I love about the interiors is that there is only the slightest variation between segments. It feels like what someone would do when switching scenes and to me I find completely and utterly brilliant. The linework throughout is astonishingly well laid down and how we see the varying weights and techniques utilised to showcase the detail in the work is superb! If you didn’t know already I am very much a background supporter and what we see here is pretty amazing for a number of reasons. Among them is how we see the panels themselves, whether or not backgrounds are utilised or not we see them filled in a way that makes sense and doesn’t leave a lot of blank space. I feel crowded or creeped out depending on the situation and that says a lot. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows such remarkable eyes for storytelling. With Addison doing all the colour work we see such a stronger tie-in to the segments. He’s also one of the modern masters of colouring and how he’s able to use the various techniques and how he can utilise the various hues and tones within any given colour to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is astonishing. The creativity and imagination that we see from these folks leaves me gobsmacked at how mindbogglingly good what we see is.
There’s a reason Vault Comics is in my top 5 publishing houses and it’s books like this that showcase today’s best talent, brightest minds and willingness to put it out on the table for the reader. You won’t find much that’s better than this.