BOOM! Studios 2020
Written by Al Ewing
Illustrated by Simone Di Meo
Colour Assists by Mariasara Miotti
Lettered by AndWorld Design
Captain Malik and the crew of the Vihaan II harvest resources from the giant corpses of alien gods found on the edge of human space. While other autopsy ships race to salvage the meat, minerals, and metals that sustain the human race, Malik sees an opportunity to finally break free from this system by being the first to find a living god. But Malik's obsession with the gods will push his crew into danger at the darkest reaches of space and face -- unless the rogue agent on their trail can stop them first…
Well I knew going into this that it was going to be interesting. I mean after all I am a fan of Al’s work and the stories he tells so I was definitely interested in reading this. I, of course, am not disappointed in the least by what we are seeing here. I found myself intrigued right off the bat and the further we get into the book the more interesting and intriguing things become. I love the contradiction of what we see and learn and you have to read this to truly understand why I question this. Still the fact that the story is able to engage the readers’ mind as fast as it does should come as no surprise, however, what is a surprise is where your mind will take whilst it’s engaged.
I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see unfold and move constantly forward through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely. The character development is the real standout here as we get to meet the crew of the Vihaan. There is so much to be gleaned from what is said, how they go about their business and how they react to that which is happening around them. The pacing that we see is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the world it is easy to see just how well everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow. It doesn’t hurt that how we see this is structured and the layers within the story itself present itself really open up a lot of interesting ideas in the readers’ mind.
Simone is so incredibly talented and he has this gorgeous linework he creates throughout the book. There really is something so beautiful, clean and unique about the work he presents that allows the reader to really get swept up in the story, the world and the characters. While this is pretty much straight up linework and it’s varying weights there are various techniques in play as well that take advantage of no lines and allow the colouring to define what is seen. This is phenomenal stuff. The way that we see the backgrounds being utilised to show the universe, the ship as they expand the moments, bring us the tight quarters feeling it becomes even more impressive. It does so by bringing us some fabulous depth perception, that sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling. Oh my stars and garters the colour work that we see is heavenly. The various hues and tones within any given colour being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work all the while incorporating the full spectrum within them is utterly phenomenal.
Boom! Studios likes to surprise us as they quietly keep putting out these amazing stories. There is a reason this has already sold out and being rushed into a second print and if you are among the few who haven’t had a chance to get this well you still have an opportunity to pick one up. My advice is that you call your shop or log into your subscription service and make sure you secure one for yourself.