Part 3
Copyright - Archie Comics
Oh and speaking of great tropes done to perfection, and things being made close and personal we also get one of the singularly best tear jerking dog as loyal friend and brave companion pieces in any comic I have ever read. If you read my entry for Y the Last Man (no.105) you know how much of a sucker I am for the powerful emotions that can be created by people's relationships with their pets. In Afterlife there are a couple of pieces that really play with that. One in particular, spoiled above, does that as well as I've known it be done in any story in any medium. How a comic about characters I have no history with, told a tale of a dog I'd just been introduced to, reduced me nearly to tears, is quite astonishing.
As that image above shows though in a large part it's in the art. The art in this comic is breathtaking, brilliant. It's - and here's that word again - perfect for a horror comic. Francesco Francavilla's art on the series is such a massive part as to why I love these comics. His dark deep shadows cast so creepily across almost everything he draws, starkly contrasted with reds and deep greys, blues and purples creates such a depth of atmosphere. He makes the horror aspects leap off the page at you, he makes tense, creepy moments catch your breath and grip you. In doing that when he changes his palette and depth of shadow to show the lighter moment or more typically flashbacks they really pop, needing no further clues to the fact you are looking back or the tone of the scene you are joining.
Almost all of what is so great about his art is captured in the single page above. He captures the drama and emotion of a scene with real craft. Archie shifts from sadness to horror and revulsion then finally to dreadful acceptance. The violence is tight, confusing - you know what's happening the storytelling isn't a problem, rather the pace and visceral energy of the action is hard to keep up with, it's a blur of angry motion and terrible violence. Finally the way he superbly captures the affection and love in Vegas (the dogs) eyes as he turns to his 'master' in the hope he will flee is so heartbreaking in those deep loving eyes. A moment of almost calm bonding between the two, a final goodbye with no remorse. Then panicked retreat as Archie releases he has no choice but to go.
The storytelling is sublime. The ability to capture such scope in individual moments yet have them run together in a way that makes perfect sense in a single, fluid, exciting, heart wrenching page is exemplary. The use of colour to at first emphasise the savagery, then quickly switch to focus on the more tender, if desperate character moment is superb. In that single page you get a real sense of how amazing the art on Afterlife with Archie is and how powerful and effective the story the art realises is.
Copyright - Archie Comics
Afterlife with Archie is an absolute triumph. It's simply put one of the very best horror comics I've read, regardless of its unexpected combination of story types. The characters it uses are made real and therefore the horror they face all the more terrifying. It's just such a shame that we only got 10 issues. Just as the world and story was opening up, new threats, challenges and internal conflicts being prepared the series was cruelly snatched away. It really felt like the story had so many places to go and was ready to go there. Even if open-ended, unfinished tales aren't your thing these are worth checking out for the sheer brilliant craft on display and the way it usurps your expectations entirely.
Hey who knows, is anything really dead and in the ground. This one might rise up yet.
Copyright - Archie Comics
Oh and speaking of great tropes done to perfection, and things being made close and personal we also get one of the singularly best tear jerking dog as loyal friend and brave companion pieces in any comic I have ever read. If you read my entry for Y the Last Man (no.105) you know how much of a sucker I am for the powerful emotions that can be created by people's relationships with their pets. In Afterlife there are a couple of pieces that really play with that. One in particular, spoiled above, does that as well as I've known it be done in any story in any medium. How a comic about characters I have no history with, told a tale of a dog I'd just been introduced to, reduced me nearly to tears, is quite astonishing.
As that image above shows though in a large part it's in the art. The art in this comic is breathtaking, brilliant. It's - and here's that word again - perfect for a horror comic. Francesco Francavilla's art on the series is such a massive part as to why I love these comics. His dark deep shadows cast so creepily across almost everything he draws, starkly contrasted with reds and deep greys, blues and purples creates such a depth of atmosphere. He makes the horror aspects leap off the page at you, he makes tense, creepy moments catch your breath and grip you. In doing that when he changes his palette and depth of shadow to show the lighter moment or more typically flashbacks they really pop, needing no further clues to the fact you are looking back or the tone of the scene you are joining.
Almost all of what is so great about his art is captured in the single page above. He captures the drama and emotion of a scene with real craft. Archie shifts from sadness to horror and revulsion then finally to dreadful acceptance. The violence is tight, confusing - you know what's happening the storytelling isn't a problem, rather the pace and visceral energy of the action is hard to keep up with, it's a blur of angry motion and terrible violence. Finally the way he superbly captures the affection and love in Vegas (the dogs) eyes as he turns to his 'master' in the hope he will flee is so heartbreaking in those deep loving eyes. A moment of almost calm bonding between the two, a final goodbye with no remorse. Then panicked retreat as Archie releases he has no choice but to go.
The storytelling is sublime. The ability to capture such scope in individual moments yet have them run together in a way that makes perfect sense in a single, fluid, exciting, heart wrenching page is exemplary. The use of colour to at first emphasise the savagery, then quickly switch to focus on the more tender, if desperate character moment is superb. In that single page you get a real sense of how amazing the art on Afterlife with Archie is and how powerful and effective the story the art realises is.
Copyright - Archie Comics
Afterlife with Archie is an absolute triumph. It's simply put one of the very best horror comics I've read, regardless of its unexpected combination of story types. The characters it uses are made real and therefore the horror they face all the more terrifying. It's just such a shame that we only got 10 issues. Just as the world and story was opening up, new threats, challenges and internal conflicts being prepared the series was cruelly snatched away. It really felt like the story had so many places to go and was ready to go there. Even if open-ended, unfinished tales aren't your thing these are worth checking out for the sheer brilliant craft on display and the way it usurps your expectations entirely.
Hey who knows, is anything really dead and in the ground. This one might rise up yet.