Miskatonic #5

Miskatonic #5

Aftershock Comics 2020

Written by Mark Sable

Illustrated by Giorgio Pontrelli

Coloured by Pippa Bowland

Lettered by Dave Sharpe

Miranda Keller is one of J. Edgar Hoover's first female investigators. After all she's seen in the Miskatonic Valley – a white supremacist cult, bulletproof amphibious humanoids and the

reanimated dead – she might also be the last. Now, her career and her life depend on stopping the resurrection of an Elder God.

This has been one heck of a story and it’s been filled with action, intrigue and mystery on so many different levels. I wonder what would have happened has Miranda been on this case by herself without Tom. I mean we’ve seen her with Asenath and now the climax to the story is fast approaching and not once do we stop being engaged and thinking about what it is we are seeing and what could have been. Mark’s ability to engage the reader while keeping the reader guessing the entire way is extremely nice to see. It has made this a heck of a lot of fun to read too mind you and while this may end this arc I am hoping the opportunity for further cases that require Tom’s unusual outlook on the world.

I like the way that this is being told. How we see the story & plot development constantly moving forward through how the sequence of events unfold alongside how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see is sensational in how the dialogue as well as seeing how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us barrelling towards the last page revealing all the twists and turns along the way it almost leaves the reader with baited breath.

I like the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to play roles in how we see this unfold is extremely nice to see. That each of the partners have their own focus while apart and yet it syncs with what the other is doing is delightful to see play itself out. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is beautifully done. I like the concept of this book and I like how we see the presence of an elder god with mixing Hoover and a Cthulhu type being is something I would never have expected to see.

I am a little bit disappointed in the interior artwork here. It feels like a novice playing with working on a digital art pad. The linework at times is much, much too thick there way too many blank backgrounds where they could benefit from being filled in and overall it feels like a class assignment rather than a professional gig. There are moments the work is great, opening page seeing the destruction and the exterior of the house those are the kind of panels I wish filled the book. That pinup page where the creativity and imagination are on full display is great I just wish that it felt like movement instead of so stiff and unyielding. The colour work is beautifully done and how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work showcases that. That panel on the page four is breathtaking.

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Mark’s story is absolutely amazing and through his ability to weave the tale through these five issues building the tension, intrigue alongside plenty of action and hell of a killer ending is more than enough reason to make sure that if you haven’t read the single issue than to make sure you order the trade. I want to see Tom’s further adventures and maybe just maybe get interiors that resemble this issues cover, because that would totally freak the heck out of readers.