Out of Body #3

Out of Body #3

Aftershock Comics 2021

Written by Peter Milligan

Illustrated by Inaki Miranda

Coloured by Eva De La Cruz

Lettered by Sal Cipriano

With only one week to go before the hospital turns off his life support, psychologist Dan Collins’ astral projection turns detective to find out who tried to kill him – only to make a shocking discovery that changes everything.

Why does ex-colleague Milton Maine want to kill Dan? Why has sorcerer August Fryne captured the lost soul of one of Dan’s ex-patients? Difficult questions, impossible answers and psychedelic madness – all this and more in Out of Body Three!

It is like a murder mystery when the murder hasn’t happened yet. Don’t get me wrong it’s well on its way to happening but for the moment this isn’t done yet. How do you solve your own murder when it hasn’t really happened yet, well that’s what Dan is facing the good thing is that he doesn’t have to go through this alone he’s got Abi but can the two of them solve this before they are both caught up in the web of those after them? I’m loving every single moment of this because it simply isn’t something that you just don’t see, it's a new, fresh and unique take on something that creates its own interest and intrigue factors.

I am very much enjoying 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 exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really continues to flesh these characters out as realistic, flawed individuals whom we know, relate to or empathise with. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we’re drawn deeper into the heart of the spider’s web.

I greatly appreciate the way that this is being structured and how we see the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am so impressed with how the characterisation, the plot twists and so much more bring this extra depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is expertly achieved.

I am loving every single panel of the interiors here. Not only is the linework extraordinary but how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level & quality of detail work that we see throughout the book is phenomenal. Also that colour plays as much a role as traditional linework is so gorgeously rendered. The way that we see the backgrounds being utilised throughout the book to enhance and expand the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out 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 spectacular eye for storytelling. The colour work is simply brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work demonstrates a superb eye for how colour works and how to maximise its effects.

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So many things are happening throughout the book depending on which character is being focused on at any given moment. That they all kind of work in this weird synchronicity while being separate entities is bloody genius work. This is why I love reading what Peter writes as he’s got this killer imagination and creativity which he’s able to convey to the reader without any kind of problem. The writing is stupendous and the characterisation is simply amazing and it's all wrapped up in this gorgeous illustrative artwork. Aftershock is home to the today’s most innovative and forward thinking stories.