Image Comics 2019
Created & Written by Jody LeHeup
Created & Illustrated by Nathan Fox
Coloured by Moreno Dinisio
Lettered by Steve Wands
Introducing Pace and Pickles—an exciting and strange new ally guarding a horrible secret! Nathan, Cross, and the crew of the Disco Queen scour the ruins of Earth for the woman responsible for wiping Nathan’s mind, only to find themselves in a fight to the death against mysterious genetic monstrosities… and not everyone makes it out alive. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
What an amazing series this is and it is so incredibly vivacious. Add to that the fact that at times it feels like they've thrown everything including the kitchen sink into the book at one time or another but everything we see works. It just blows my mind at what we are seeing Jody do with the characters,the story and the overall vibe and feel of the book. I love the way his mind works and how he manages to engage the reader with what we see, little things here and there that spark something in the readers' mind to bring out a memory that connects you to the story.
The beginning of this issue introduces us to Pace and Pickles and shows us just how different life on Earth is now. It is a great way to meet these two actually as well demonstrate that nothing is going to be what you expect it to be like throughout this book. The second little mysterious nugget of an arc has me much more concerned and intrigued. This is a lab and it's gorgeous in how it feels like it's a space station and I am totally digging that aspect.
Well the characterisation here with everyone we meet is pretty flawlessly executed. Even those creatures, people or whatnot you can see or hear their characterisation and personalities with such clarity. I think even more so when we see the crew of the Disco Queen as they search for the woman they wish to find. How they go about it, where they are and how literally not careful they are being. Is this arrogance or ignorance I am not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a little bit of both. That however, is another thing about Jody's writing that I can't get enough of. That and this all takes me off page and engages my mind in thinking of ways things could or should go at least in my mind.
The interiors from Nathan are absolutely stunning. The imagination and creativity that we see is amazing as it's brought to life through this linework. The attention to detail that he can bring out of the way he manipulates the varying weights is just a friggin treat. Also it seems there are different styles at different moments and I'm not mad at that either but when we get to the ruins and this habitat, or zoo at page 10 and what Nathan and Moreno do here like striking oil or finding a nice gold vein. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a sensational eye for storytelling. Also I am a huge fan of the way we see backgrounds being utilised here as they expand the moments and bring a great sense of size and scope to the book. The colour work here is really nicely done. Seeing how light sources create the shading and shadow work and the colour blocking as well as some colour gradation is rather impressive.
There are so many things I want to say, that I want expand upon but I won't because that would mean way too many spoilers and I am not that kind of guy. Still what we see here is amazing and the while they need Nathan's mind restored if they aren't careful he's not going to be alive for them to do that and learn what they need to know. The pacing and just how all this flows is so well done it brings out excitement, horror, joy and desperation in rapid succession. You aren't going to find a ride quite like this one anywhere else.