Adventureman #5

Adventureman #5

Image Comics 2020

Written by Matt Fraction

Pencilled & Coloured by Terry Dodson

Inked by Rachel Dodson

Lettered by Clayton Cowles

"TO THE GREATEST UNKNOWN"

As New York City teeters on the brink of a strange armageddon, Claire tries the Adventureman mantle on for size just in time to face the monstrous evil that vanquished her predecessor—only he didn't have a family like hers.

It has been a hot minute since we’ve seen this book and honestly I had forgotten where we left off when I started to read this. Not that that really matters, the story is good enough to stand on its own but once you get a few pages in you begin to remember what it was that had gone on before. It does indeed make this that much more exciting to be fair as we get caught up in the story like we’ve not seen it before and then as the memories return it adds a whole new level of excitement and intrigue. I am thoroughly enjoying this series and I cannot wait now that this appears to be back on a full time schedule. This is the end of the first arc and it sets up what we can expect moving forward and the rebirth of Advenureman is almost complete.

I am very much enjoying 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 wthere reader learns information is presented extremely well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really fleshes out their personalities extremely well. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the more we see the broader scope of things.

I am enjoying the way that this is being structured and how we see the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I very much like the way that we see the layers open up new avenues to be explored and how they add such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

The interiors here are exceptional. How we see the linework and its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work that we see is stunning. I love the detail within the outfits and the creativity and imagination that is on display is phenomenal as well. How we see backgrounds utilised throughout really enhances and expands the moments beautifully as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work really shows a great understanding of how colour works. I love that the Dodson’s really know each other's work inside and out and that the pencils and inks look like one person did all the work.

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It’s a great book and I look forward to seeing what the next chapter brings and how much of a call there is for Adventuremom and her crew. With this first adventure has Claire opened a can of worms? Well here’s hoping that she did because this blend of old school and modern superheroes should prove to be just the doctor ordered. With some strong interesting writing and spectacular interiors this promises to be more like the pulp adventures of old and I cannot wait to see that.