Ascencia #9

Ascencia #9

Wake Entertainment 2021

Written by John Dolmayan

Illustrated by Tony Parker

Coloured by Blond

Lettered by Taylor Esposito

Arthur and Gwen bear down on Sam getting closer to unravelling the mystery of talisman. There's trouble in Bethany as the rival gangs fight for power and influence. All this and more in this issue of Ascencia.

I’m going to talk about this book like i’ve never described one before and as I was trying to think of a way to do this this is how it all materialised for me. Think of the series like you would a tree, the main arc being the trunk the base of the tree if you will. As we rise higher up the trunk the branches start to branch off and those become the avenues we see explored and side plots that vary in how much the impact the main arc. Some branches are thick and others thin but they all add to the overall story in their own unique ways. The closer we get to the top the more branches branch out and it’s this myriad of pathways that just make this so damn exciting to read. This is another book that no one seems to be talking about and it's a crying shame because this needs to be in your hands, it needs to be read and you need to experience something like a classic detective crime science fiction story.

I am loving 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 are presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job with how we see their personalities continue to develop. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more we wonder how all these pieces fit together.

I’m impressed with how we see this being structured and how we see the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking the way that these layers open up avenues to be explored because of how much depth, dimension and complexity that we see added. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

I am a huge fan of the way that this is illustrated. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail within the work is breathtaking. Between the use of backgrounds and how we see the composition within the panels they expand and enhance the moments as well as bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a brilliant eye for how colour works.

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I am a sucker for a good detective story and this one weaves its way in, out and around the city in ways that no one could have seen coming. With the way that this planet and their workers and gangs and such work it was never going to be a cut and dry whodunnit for Arthur and instead he has to fight politics and the machinations of so many around him to find some semblance of the truth. It really has this delicious complexity to it that takes it so far into and surprising some kind of crime drama, like Kojak meets the Sopranos. The writing is phenomenal and the characterisation is eerie and effective while the interiors are just brilliantly rendered.