Casual Fling #2

Casual Fling #2

AWA Upshot Comics 2021

Written by Jason Star

Illustrated by Dalibor Talajić

Coloured by Marco Lesko

Lettered by Steve Wands

Jennifer Ryan has the perfect life. A loving family. A high paying job in corporate law. A luxurious apartment in upper Manhattan. Then one day she steps out of her marriage...and finds that her new lover isn't the one night stand she expected. Stalked and threatened with exposure, Jennifer attempts to unravel the true identity of her tormentor, discovering valuable clues in the trail of destruction left in this mysterious man's wake.

This is a modern day Fatal Attraction and the implications in the real world are as incredibly frightening ass this story is incredibly entertaining. Leave it to Jason to come up with a dated concept, revitalise it for a modern audience and use today’s technology to create something that leaves the reader as uncomfortable as they are fascinated by what we see. Also I really do like that the predator is a man in this instance and Jen is a married woman who made one indiscretion because of how frustrated she is with the situation at home. It isn’t like her home life is horrible or anything but I get the feeling it’s an adjustment time and it’s new and difficult for everyone involved, more so since she’s now the family’s sole breadwinner.

I love the way that th is 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 exceptionally well. I mean just the fact that we never know when or where Alex is going to show up next adds this whole tension filled drama to the mix that manages to keep the reader on edge. The character development is utterly amazing and to see just how charming a handsome fella can be and still remain threatening and ambiguous creeps the hell outta me. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing what’s next in this saga it leaves you at the edge of your seat.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story keep growing, evolving and seemingly taking on a life of their own. Plus how we see everything working to create the story’s ebb & flow is pretty amazing.

I love the interiors here as there is something very classic comic book style about them. With the linework and it’s varying weights we are treated to some really nice detail work. Every single panel that has backgrounds being utilised is brilliantly done and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story is perfection. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered as well. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is fantastic.

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There is so much going on this issue and yet it all has this amazing natural progression to the story. From what Jen is going through to how those around her react to it and what she’s done to her family it all has full circle kind of effect to it. I’m not sure humans were ever meant to be truly monogamous, though I hope so cause i’ve always been, but that’s something we all have to decide on our own. The real question we have to ask ourselves is what lengths will you go to to keep your loved ones safe from harm and keep your family intact?