Bloom #2

Bloom #2

Hero Tomorrow Publishing 2021

Created, Written, Layouts, Colours & Lettering by Ted Sikora

Illustrated by Butch Mapa

Chapter 2

The journey to mind-bending madness continues between Ramsey, the comic book artist, and Regina, his dancing body-painted muse.

First it was Apama, then it was Tap Dance Killer and now it’s Bloom, Ted keeps expanding his universe and each title is so vastly different but each one is so bloody successful in bringing the characters to life. This is another hit for me and a huge reason why I support indie publishing houses as this is where some of today’s best storytelling is taking place. I can easily see how Ramsey could have fallen for Regina while she’s all painted up with these symbols on her body so that he forgets himself and the fact he has a girlfriend and succumbs to his passions. Any creator who can bring his muse to life is going to fall under that spell and the fact that these symbols he painted on Regina actually possess power that he’s unaware of them actually possessing well that’s just him in his haste to bring his idea to life. It is almost like playing god in a way and that alone is something can be a dangerous game to play.

I love 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 is presented exceedingly well. The character development is phenomenal and this is thanks to the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react the situations and circumstances that they encounter. I love how Ramsey finds himself exceedingly scared of Regina the more she succumbs to the symbols painted on her body and acts more like a woman possessed than his actual muse. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we’re captivated by the turn of events that we see.

I appreciate how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and emerge as the situations dictate. The layers contain some great bits including characterisation and the subtle and overt aspects of the story that add this wonderful depth 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 achieved.

The interiors here are utterly brilliant. I like the tasteful nudity that we see though it was the time of Woodstock and free love and seeing them full monte wouldn't have hurt. The linework is strong, clean and crisp and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level in the quality of detail work is astonishingly well rendered. The backgrounds that we see take on a life of their own becoming a character in their own right while enhancing the moments as well as working within the composition of the panels to create 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 magnificent eye for storytelling. The colour work is bloody brilliant as well. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a strong eye for how colour works and how to get the maximum effect out of them.

This story is fascinating, exciting and pretty terrifying all at the same time. While Regina succumbs more and more to the character Ramsey has created he grows increasingly scared of her. The dynamic of the book keeps changing and the more we see the more we want to see because it really is something dangerously thrilling. With exceptional writing and characterisation wrapped up in these gorgeous interiors Bloom may just be one of the best new books of the year.