The Dark Age #6

The Dark Age #6

Red5 Comic 2019

Created & Written by Don Handfield

Illustrated by Leonard Rodriguez

Coloured by Dijjo Lima

Lettered by DC Hopkins

Riker and his band learn why metal disappeared and uncover an even darker, more incredible secret, one that can either save or damn humankind forever.

Jonnie sees who the boy king is for the first time and it raises more questions than there are answers. Still it’s a great wrinkle in everything we’ve been led to believe so far. There are a few avenues that have opened up over the course of this series thus far but none have prepared us for what it is we are seeing happen here. I almost feel we were cheated a bit by this issue it’s weird that’s for sure and I’m not sure the direction is one I would have taken but I’m willing to see how this plays out next issue before actually passing judgement. There is at least one person who seemed to either be prepared for this or simply didn’t care and attacked relentlessly when they should have held off. This is going to change how we see things so perhaps it isn’t as crazy as it appears.

I like 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 is interesting and this is due to the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story as well as these twists & turns it certainly takes us places we’d never thought we’d go.

I like the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve, strengthen and emerge anew depending on which avenues are being explored. These layers contain strong bits of characterisation that both work with the main story arc and swirl around it either way it adds depth and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved extremely well.

I am a huge fan of the interiors here. The linework is phenomenal and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level of detail in the work is extraordinary to see. The faces and facial expression plus how we see the body language does wonders in fleshing the characters out even further. I’d like to see more backgrounds being utilised, the talent and skill is here and it’s all that’s really missing. Otherwise the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope we see is extremely well rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a sensational eye for how colour works.

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This book was already an interesting take on what happens when all the metal all just disappears. I would’ve been content to let the readers own mind use their imagination and creativity to come up with possible scenarios, after all the mind is a powerful thing and usually comes up with much better ideas when left to roam freely. What we see this issue really just takes the story to a whole new level and whether they are benevolent of not remains to be seen. With some stellar writing and amazing characterisation alongside these gorgeous interiors showcase why I love Red5 Comics.