Stake #1

Stake #1

Scout Comics 2021

Written by David A. Byrne

Illustrated by Francesca Fantini

Lettered by Joel Rodriguez of BofR Productions

Three years ago, Vampires announced their presence to the world in grand fashion; in one instant, Angel lost her two best friends and her existence changed forever. Now, as a member of the Vampire Bounty Hunter Union, and with the help of her ancient vampiric mentor Jessamy, she's out to track down the bloodthirsty monsters who destroyed her life. She is... Stake.

Oh this is something folks. While I may not understand why there’s such a huge gap, see time, between issues one and two it does allow for readers’ to get a copy once it’s sold out and goes back for another print. Oh and it will if it hasn’t already. There are a number of reasons to really get into this story and enjoy getting lost along the way but more than a few have to do with the way we see this being written. I say this because it isn’t necessarily because of the story or how the character development is seen but by what you might consider background noise, which is a fancy way of saying reactions by the world at large. It has this decided sense about it that says in today’s world we’re too jaded to believe what’s in front of our faces and that if you don’t agree with the truth then it must not be real.

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 presented exceptionally well. The process in which we are introduced to the characters and learn the role they are going to play in the story is definitely one I haven’t seen before and I have to say I find it rather interesting and refreshing as it means you really do have to pay attention to what is being said here. The character development is just as interesting to me and the more we see and hear the narration from Angel or Stake as she prefers to go by the more we want to know and learn. The pacing is solid and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way it’s easy to see what kind of wild and crazy time we have in store.

I am a huge fan of black & white interiors these days, they showcase the talent and flaws of the artist so when it’s on it’s beyond on and when it’s not well at least it shows some where growth is needed. This is some amazing work we’re seeing here and the fact that the colour is extremely limited to the shades and hues of red and a few other pops of different colours is sensational. One of my favourite pages here is that splash page that isn’t technically a splash page, page three if you’re wondering. The composition inside the panels with how we see backgrounds could be a lot better because when the are utilised in full force the work is sublime. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a very talented eye for storytelling. Also loving the creativity and imagination that we see shining through the pages here.

​

The only bummer right now as far as I am concerned is the fact we have to wait till April for the next issue. This has a great premise, it ties in to a lot of vampire lore, history and popular culture and I hope that we see how that’s all filtered throughout the story showing what is fact and what is fiction. This is a fantastic story that really takes a great hard look into the genre in ways you didn’t know you wanted to see.