Gung-Ho: Sexy Beast #4

Gung-Ho: Sexy Beast #4

Ablaze Publishing 2021

Written by Benjamin Von Eckartsberg

Illustrated by Thomas Von Kummant

Translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger

With packs of reapers hot on his tail, Archer struggles to survive in the danger zone. Zack contemplates leaving the colony to search for his brother and provide him with food and supplies, in order to buy time until he can prove his innocence. But if he goes, he will not be going alone…

If you haven’t been reading this series than you’ve not been paying attention to what I’ve been saying about this book. One of the things that I really appreciate about this, aside from the fact that it’s a post apocalyptic story, is that this could be put anywhere on Earth and it would work beautifully. So long as you have survivors and need a solution to put those who cause trouble, don’t follow the rules or are just considered undesirables and you need to put them somewhere without killing them this is the solution you come up with. I think what the guys have done here is highlight so much about what we call civilised behaviour along with the inherent flaws that come with those who have that need to be in control.

I am thoroughly enjoying 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 exceptionally well. There are moments that I question and others that I adore and it really is high time that the teenagers on the verge of adulthood stood up to those who are in charge and stop them from getting away with literally murder. These kids are the next generation of leaders in this outpost and they’ve needed to step-up for some time now. The character development that we see is amazing and how the characters act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter as well as the dialogue that we see keeps fleshing them out further and further. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story you can feel the excitement levels rising.

I like how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story manage to keep growing stronger and weave themselves in and through what we’ve seen thus far. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is really well achieved.

The interiors here really are gorgeous. I love that this is how we see how computer generated work because it doesn’t feel like anything else being done today. There is a definite style to the work that is all Thomas’ vision and that we can get some intense imagery mixed with pure emotional visual moments. The creativity and imagination that we see and how terrifying these beasts can be is sensational. The composition within the panels and how backgrounds are utilised bring us some really nice depth perception, sense of scale and that 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 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 impressive.

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This is a much different post apocalyptic style story than anything we’ve ever seen before and that kind of appeal is immeasurable. Add into that the fact that this could be anywhere in the world and it becomes a place that is recognisable and in some ways a place you kind of want to visit. After all the opportunity to stick it to these adults in charge holds immense appeal. This is a beautifully written and illustrated story that not only transports you someplace else but it engages the readers’ mind and imagination in some new and creative ways.