Minerva's Map

Minerva’s Map #1

By Stefan Tosheff

THE KEY TO A PERFECT APOCALYPSE: CHAPTER 1

Marshal Minerva has been hired by the Saving Hand Foundation to locate two equally ancient, otherworldly items and the individuals who hold them. Sounds easy enough. But she suspects there might be something larger at play. Car chases, fist fights, Euro tracksuit thugs, unwarranted self-confidence, and a fish named Conor – Marshal Minerva has a dangerous road ahead of her.

Oh my stars and garters I think i’m in love with this book already! I mean I wasn’t sure what to expect with this as it comes from an imprint of Lev Gleason’s, formerly Chapterhouse, but I have to say I love, love, love finding surprises like this! Now i’m going to have to find a physical copy because if it’s this good digitally I can only imagine what the physical copy is like. What attracted me to this is that it is from Gleason and the other thing is the title, with the Key To A Perfect Apocalypse. I mean who doesn’t love the prospect of a good apocalypse? I know I sure do and that was all she wrote, signed, sealed and delivered i’m yours.

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 exceptionally well organised. I also greatly appreciate that there are these kind of holes that allow the readers’ mind to become engaged in the story and I do have the feeling that at some point in time those holes will be filled in but in the meantime I am definitely into what we see. The character development is utterly sensational to see. Minerva is a sassy, brutally honest and a completely no nonsense kind of gal and it makes reading this and seeing her interact with others purely and absolutely enjoyable. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing this world, the story and these characters not once do you stop smiling.

I like the way that this is being structured and how we see the layers within the story start to emerge. There is a really nice way that they all tie together and make this feel like the sum is greater than the whole. I’m also very much liking the way everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.

The interiors here are amazingly delightful. The linework is gorgeous and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work we see is stunning. The faces and facial expression plus the body language all help bring us deeper characterisation and the cars, trains and that Cathedral are definite wow moments. The way we see backgrounds being utilised and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book is amazing. 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 divine! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sensational understand of how colour works. Also that we see colour blocking and gradation depending on the moment is a joyous thing to see.

​

Marshall Minerva has a 100% close rate and to find out how this is possible you’ll have to read the story. Suffice it to say that the world Stefan has created here is extremely well thought out and filled with a wide variety of characters that will undoubtedly thrill and entertain you. For this is up there with The Joker for best surprise Gem of the week. Put another notch in the lipstick case because Lev Gleason struck gold with this one folks.