Project: Patron #1

Project: Patron #1

Aftershock Comics 2021

Written by Steve Orlando

Illustrated by Patrick Piazzalunga

Coloured by Carlos Lopez

Lettered by Thomas Mauer

Thirty years ago, the world watched in horror as THE PATRON, a hero sent as humanitarian aid from a different dimension, went punch for punch with WOE, a primordial beast and a perfect match for our mighty protector. In the end, hero and villain alike fell…but the Patron returned – and continues to defend us to this day!

At least, that’s what we’ve all been told.

The truth is, the Patron died that day along with Woe. The UN replaced the Patron with a Reploid, designed to mimic the real Patron and continue on his mission of protection. Today, the Patron Reploid is secretly piloted by an elite team – a team prepared for anything… except for the death of one of their own.

So the opening is heavily borrowed from something, an event, we’re all familiar with and at first I thought c’mon. Then as the story unfolded I began to see what Steve was doing and I thought okay this way cooler and more interesting than I had originally thought. I will say this about Woe and what he did, that’s something I kind of more than want to see that play itself out specially with all the various Velociraptor species.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. How we see the story & plot development through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. When the story hits the hanger I was blown away and as everything, well okay not everything, starts coming to light this story takes a decidedly drastic turn for me. The character development is amazing and as we meet the characters and the dialogue we see really starts to give us a clue as to who they are. I look forward to seeing their personalities blossom. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, this work and introducing the characters you come to a newfound respect for Orlando.

I like the way we see this being structured and how the layers within the story are emerging. I wasn’t expecting one of those layers, at least not yet, and the intrigue this brings well Steve’s not kidding around. With how we see everything working together as well as how it all moves things forward is incredibly well rendered.

The interiors here are very nicely done. I don’t know why I always expect to see a highly detailed style but that’s my issue because what we see here from Patrick is a very good, solid style of work. Its got that comic book feel to it and the linework is super solid sold and through the varying weights and techniques we see the detail work is stupendous. Though I am sad we didn’t see the whole full monty in the shower, cause I know I would’ve been glancing. Still the utilisation of backgrounds here not only enhances the moments but brings us some nice depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. I will say we still could’ve use more of them, backgrounds that is. 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 extremely well rendered. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is expertly done. I am really impressed with how we see the gradation effects and how colour is used to further definition and give depth to what we see.

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I follow Steve’s work because he’s an extremely talented writer. With this book I think we are finally seeing him open up and let himself go and it shows in how well this is written. This is smart, intelligent and engaging writing and the characters are full of verve that goes perfectly with the interior artwork. Aftershock is home to the industry’s hottest storytellers making the best books.