Sea of Sorrow #4

Sea of Sorrows #4

IDW Publishing 2020

Written by Rich Douek

Illustrated by Alex Cormack

Colour Assists by Mark Mullaney

Lettered by Justin Birch

An incoming storm forces the crew to step up work on the wreck—but the divers discover a horrible truth about the Bremen's wreck, and the promise of sunken treasure. On deck, tensions explode, as Jim escapes the brig and wreaks havoc. And through it all, the siren continues to prey on the crew's minds, and their very flesh.

Goodness gracious great balls of fire! While Rich is writing one hell of a story here the real star is Alex and the work he’s doing on the interiors here. Without his work being what it is this wouldn’t have near the impact it could have. Personally I love this book but then again i’m a horror aficionado and this ranks high up there with stories I’d like to see become a feature film. The setting, the era and the cast of characters all conspire to really take this to the next level of storytelling. A mermaid, or Siren take your pick as either would be the equivalent of what we’re seeing here as the lore for both is much more dark and dangerous than most people realise is the perfect antagonist for this story and it’s delightful to see it so horrifically presented.

I am in love with the way that this is being told. That we see this as a continuous day and not each issue being a new one makes all the difference in the world in how realistic it comes across. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is impeccably presented. Whether it’s the two in the water or Sunny Jim being not so sunny as the moment what we see comes as no real surprise but it does heighten the tension and intrigue factors in the reader. The character development that we see is spot on and as we see the characters act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter the entire contingent aboard this ship is affected in varying degrees. The pacing is perfectly done and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the chaos that is being incited the more we as the readers’ want to see.

Alex’s work on the interiors here are beyond blood brilliant. The linework that we see is exquisitely rendered and how the varying weights and techniques we see being utilised to create this level and quality of detail work is mindbogglingly stupendous! Then there’s Justin’s contribution, and I really hope i’m getting this right, with the musical notes that we see throughout adding that extra level of fear. The way we see the composition within the panels is utterly brilliant and then to see the faces and facial expressions with the body language and how this furthers the characterisation is superb. The creativity and imagination on display is mind numbing and add moments like the rain or the blood soaked face of Jim and really this is the stuff that gives us nightmares. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is just as brilliantly rendered. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work, especially within the pitch black moments, is stunningly gorgeous.

​

These two are this generations Wolfman & Perez as they work together at such a level of synchronicity that whatever it is they do it’s pure solid gold. They need to continue this partnership and be the team supreme when it comes to horror. There are so many hauntingly beautiful and stunningly horrific moments strewn throughout this story that even the biggest of scaredy cats will find it difficult to look away. The quality and level of storytelling that we see here between all involved is what the industry should be afraid of.