Human Remains #1

Human Remains #1

Vault Comics 2021

Written by Peter Milligan

Illustrated by Sally Cantrino

Coloured by Dearbhla Kelly

Lettered by Andworld Design

Dax and Bisa love each other. But in this new and terrifying world, love is dangerous. Feeling anything is dangerous. Earth has a new and terrible invader—monsters that deprive us of the very feelings that make us human.

And this is why I’m a Peter Milligan fan. What a brilliant and twisted mind, imagination and creativity this man has and there really is nothing he can’t write and write well. I like the way that this is set up, how we see the world as it is now and how different factions are shown and what the cause and effect of having emotions are going to have. It is quite brilliant to see play out and with the group and the testosterone filled military is portrayed to stereotype, and remember it’s a stereotype for a reason. It is kind of ironic, dontcha think, that this book is about controlling your emotions, well the characters have to, and yet the story manages to create emotions and feelings within the reader. I like this kind of dichotomy because it just goes to show how stinkin talented Peter is and how you can talk about a subject and then fill the reader with almost the polar opposite.

I am a 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 narration, the dialogue, the character development as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter is utterly magnificent to see. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to this world, these characters and the story itself pulls us in perfectly.

I am liking how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story begin to emerge and grow. I like how these layers open up avenues to be explored and we know some will be and some won’t be but they all add this wonderful depth, dimension and complexity to the story. I am now looking forward to the group and their actions, that's for sure and it is an angle I appreciate seeing. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors are a little more deceiving than I was expecting to see. They aren’t as tight and clean as I expected and what we do get really does kind of enhance the story in a way that is delightful. The linework is great and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work that we see is expressive. I love how we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the 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 remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a great understanding of how colour works.

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I love how this book surprised me with not only the concept but its execution as well. It really is the ending that really takes the cake here. That image will forever be ingrained in my brain and it makes me think of some sort of mutant bedbug type of creature and that is terrifying to me. All I know is that if the first part of the story doesn’t pull you in then this ending will be the thing that makes you want to see and know more. This has some incredible writing and phenomenal characterization along with the interiors that will make you feel something.