Broken Gargoyles: Sin and Virtue #3

Broken Gargoyles: Sin and Virtue #3

Source Point Press 2021

Written by Bob Salley & Christina Blanch

Illustrated by Stan Yak

Flashback Illustrated by Ken Perry

Coloured by Robert Nugent

Lettered by Justin Birch

As chaos is unleashed on the farm, Manco and Prescott square off. This time, Prescott is not so forgiving, as he was once before. With the crew facing a threat on all sides, sacrifices will have to be made in order to escape with their lives.

I wasn’t going to review this because I don’t have all the materials I need to run a review the way that I like but this is such a dang good series I couldn’t miss two issues in a row. Aside from the fact that this group of ragtag soldiers who are basically each other’s family and have more loyalty to each other than the government has for them is too interesting to not be reading folks. This is the best example I can think of in comics where a family, much like in real life, is chosen by those you surround yourself with rather than by bond of blood. This chosen family is what makes them so formidable and so effective when it comes to accomplishing their goals and it’s a pure joy to read.

I am such a huge fan of 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 that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really helps us see who they are at their core. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more intense and chaotic the story becomes.

I am very much enjoying how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. It is within these layers where we see the bulk of the characterisation, the plot twists and just the overall way that this is being told as we see this great depth, dimension and 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 achieved exceptionally well.

The interiors here are kind of crazy, crazy good that is. The linework we see along with its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the attention to detail we see throughout the book is pretty marvellous. I wish we’d see more backgrounds in play because how the composition within the panels brings out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope could benefit from them. 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 creativity and imagination that we see is completely and utterly marvellous and when we see the dude with that mask attacking he’s just all kinds of intense and we discern this through his visage. The colour work is beautifully rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a remarkable eye for how colour works and how to maximise its effects.

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The black and white ending here is creepy as all get out. It is what makes what’s to come build the kind of tension the reader can actually feel in their shoulders. This is a book that kind of sneaks up on you and comes out of left field and you cannot fathom for the life of you why more folks aren’t talking about it. With some amazing writing and stupendous characterisation wrapped up in these dynamic interiors this is going to impress and amaze you time and time again.