Fear Case #4

Fear Case #4

Dark Horse Comics 2021

Written by Matt Kindt

Illustrated by Tyler Jenkins

Coloured by Hilary Jenkins

Lettered by Jim Campbell

As the supernatural murder box known as the ''Fear Case'' wrecks havoc on our heroes, agent Mitchum finally comes into possession of this secret weapon and must face the temptation to open it and fall into oblivion.

Well this isn’t quite the ending to the story that I was expecting to see but then again I suppose it is the ending that I should’ve been anticipated. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves too much because that’s the ending or actually its pretty much the entire issue. The way things open with Mitchum interrogating the kid and that’s how we learn so much about what happened to Winters. Well partially anyway because the whole truth doesn’t come out till much later. This has been one of the most amazing books that Matt’s written and considering how prolific the man is that’s saying something. He’s kept me guessing left and right and all the while once they finally do get their hands on this case all hell, literally hell, breaks loose and nothing is going to be the same. The old “be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it” has never help more true than it does here.

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 is done with such aplomb. Just the way it is seen by the reader is stunning. The character development is amazing and as we see how the characters act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter along with the dialogue and how they interact with one another really made them feel like real people. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way we really are caught up in the thick of things.

How we see this being structured and the layers within the story tying up some of the loose ends brings this story to a close. Or does it? How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.

The interiors here are absolutely stunning. The way that Tyler has been able to be so innovative with the way he’s bringing this story to life is astounding. The linework is exquisite and how we see this kind of scratchy and sketchy work being done is some of the most beautiful stuff I’ve seen. The composition within the panels and how they bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story that is superb. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is fantastic! I like the way the lines we see in the blacks and other colours are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work with the various hues and tones within the colours.

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I wasn’t expecting to see a lot of what we do here. There are moments that fundamentally change how we see this story. Not just the story but the idea behind the story as well and while the Bureau wants the case more than anything but they have no idea what they are doing. The hubris of man knows no bounds and the belief they can handle anything and everything with a rational mind serves no one any areal purpose. I enjoyed seeing what happened to those who studied the case so the real question is what happens to case next after all this?