Echolands #1

Echolands #1

Image Comics 2021

Created & Written by J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman

Illustrated by J.H. Williams III

Coloured by Dave Stewart

Lettered by Todd Klein

In a bizarre future world that has forgotten its history, a reckless thief, Hope Redhood, holds the key to excavating its dark, strange past—if only she and her crew can escape a tyrannical wizard and his unstoppable daughter. But fate will send them all on a path leading to a war between worlds.

ECHOLANDS is a landscape format, mythic-fiction epic where anything is possible—a fast-paced genre mashup adventure that combines everything from horror movie vampires to classic mobsters and cyborg elves, to Roman demigods and retro rocket ships. It’s going to be a helluva ride!

This is one of the most gorgeous and unusual that I have seen come out in recent memory. Just the way that the book is put together so that it’s basically two long panels, one on each side of the page, that flows beautifully. The interiors here really grab the reader and we stay because of the writing which is just flawlessly done. I love how what we see takes us through the pages revealing the world they live in and the different species and races that inhabit this world. It really is eye popping.

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 impeccably rendered. 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 does a marvellous job in bringing out the personalities. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the characters, their world and the story we’re pulled into this in some innovative ways.

I appreciate the way that we see this bring structured as well as how the layers within the story begin to emerge and grow. These layers contain the characterisation, the twists and turns and so much more and to see these aspects bringing so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story is wonderfully done. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceedingly well.

The interiors here are abso-bloody-lutely gorgeous. The linework is superb and with the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail throughout the book is mindbogglingly brilliant to see. With the backgrounds and how we see the composition within the panels bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is so well rendered. The creativity and imagination that is on display here is completely and utterly amazing. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows such a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is equally as brilliant to see. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a sensational eye for how colour works.

​

Hope and Cor make for an interesting couple. The dynamic they have with one another and how we see them throughout the book is really fun to see. The dialogue and how their exchanges show they have definitely known each other a long time and that familiarity really is a part of what makes this so special. We see some of the most amazing writing and strong characterisation that is brought to life through these absolutely stunning interiors within these pages.