I Breathed A Body #1

I Breathed A Body #1

Aftershock Comics 2021

Written by Zac Thompson

Illustrated by Andy MacDonald

Coloured by Triona Farrell

Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

A science fiction horror series about social media, big tech, and influencer culture. It’s The Social Network meets Hellraiser. When the world’s biggest influencer posts something irredeemably horrific online, the world changes in an instant. Now it’s up to his social media manager, Anne Stewart, to fan the flames of outrage and create a sensationalist campaign that rewrites the rules of “banned content.” Thus begins a carnival of lust, revulsion, desire, and disgust – all for viral videos.

Alright two things to note before we get into this full swing, one is that Zac is a great writer and idea man and I have enjoyed all the wacky weirdness that he’d done so far and two, Aftershock Comics continues to pave the way towards the future with the books they bring to readers’. So the fact that this is outside the box science fiction/horror that takes a phenomenal look at the current way society seems to be codependent on social media makes this feel like it’s less satirical and more news worthy. I know I have scaled way back on my social media use for myself, not the review site though, and the last two days i’ve forgotten my phone leaving the house so when I see something like this I can instantly see my own point of view alongside Zac’s interpretation of what he sees.

Oh I am enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented in a wonderfully unique way. Sure we get to know about this social media platform, what its about in a limited fashion and a bit about the world but it’s done so interestingly to me. The character development is marvellous! I really enjoy seeing not only the dialogue but how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that flesh them out as relatable people. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the world, story, characters as well as the twists and turns along the way I have to say this gets more and more interesting with each turn of the page.

The interiors here are really sensational! The linework we see is exquisite and how the varying weights and techniques that we see being utilised to bring about this level of quality in the detail is beyond incredible. There are moments that defy logic and imagination and bring you to a world you’ve no idea how to escape or if you even want to. The gender neutral character is impressive and I don’t know what is hanging in that, we’ll call it a larder, but that doesn’t look like anything I recognise and it gives me shivers. How we see the backgrounds utilised within the composition of the panels is a thing of beauty and perfection. They enhance the moments along with some wonderful 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 masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is utterly divine and how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work. The mastery of colour that we see is completely impressive to me and wowza!

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This is why Aftershock is an Apex Publishing House. The talent, charisma, nerve and vision of the creators here are brought to life in ways that just cannot be missed.