Locust #1

Locust #1

Scout Comics 2021

Written by Massimo Rosi

Illustrated by Alex Nieto

Lettered by Mattia Gentili

Most of humanity has fallen victim to a terrible plague that has turned them into giant locusts. As the locusts consume the earth, the uninfected survivors struggle to stay alive. During the "Great Transformation" a fisherman and his elderly mother try to escape a decimated New York City. Can they survive?

What a fantastic debut issue this is. We are deposited in the story already in progress and that allows the reader to become fully engaged in the story as Max fights in the snowy streets of an empty New York City. The fact that we also get flashbacks to how all this began, okay not the exact start but the start according to Max, while we see him in the present really does an excellent job in fleshing out certain aspects of this story. I have said it in the past Massimo really is one of today’s most prolific and talented writers that you may or may not know about. The man has some great talent and skill when it comes to crafting a story and then to see how implements it for the reader to get the maximum affect it can give you as a reader in your enjoyment of it.

I am a huge 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 impeccably well. From the opening of seeing him do his thring to the ship with the CDC announcement and finally to seeing the first transformation this has such a great way of getting to see and understand where Max comes from. The character development is phenomenal and how we see him act and react to the situations and circumstances he encounters really helps to flesh him out as a man. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the characters and this world all we want by the end is to see more.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and continue to grow and strengthen from what we haven’t seen keeps that intrigue, interest and engagement factors running high. The way that everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how we see it move the story forward is fabulous!

You have to be impressed when an artist does the entire interiors all on his own, I know I am. I like the linework that we see and how its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work is really quite exceptional. The backgrounds we see are really well utilised and how they work within the composition of the panels showcases two different times and brings us this great 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 superb eye for storytelling. The colour work is phenomenal. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is stellar work. I love that the snow doesn’t contain blues but it does absorb the colour from the surrounding buildings. There is some really beautiful work going on here.

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This is a unique take on post apocalyptic story and surprisingly it doesn’t rely upon zombies and instead it takes us on an original route. I do like that the focus is upon Max and his quest to find someone instead of the aftereffects of what we see. Massimo is a stellar talent and you need to find this book, order from your local shop or just buy it off the Scout website either way you are going to enjoy how this is being told!