The Dark Age #7

The Dark Age #7

Red5 Comics 2019

Created & Written by Don Handfield

Illustrated by Pop Mhan

Coloured by Dijjo Lima

Lettered by DC Hopkins

Riker, the United States of Canada and the Empire of Man learn the truth behind the alien watchers and the creation of the new world in the conclusion of The Dark Age.

Why, why does this have to be the end of The Dark Age. For me this ending is only the beginning after all. So we’ve learned kind of why things have played out the way they have and now it’s time for that part to be put to rest and the job of rebuilding life as they know it so for me I’ll go mad if this is the end of it all, well that and that we’ve seen angles that allow for the expansion of this world. If you all cannot tell this has pulled me into the is world, gotten me invested and engaged in the story in ways that I’m rather passionate about. It is this kind of storytelling that we love to see and experience and it makes us fans of the creators so that we end up following them in their careers outside this project.

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 character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to portray them in ways that make them feel incredibly familiar. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story it’s great to see how much thought and ingenuity went into making this story.

I really appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve, strengthen and emerge. While it may be the last issue there are still avenues which are opening up and with the layers we see containing the characterisation and plot twists we see this great 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 perfectly achieved.

The interiors here are bloody gorgeous! The linework is sensational and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail work is astonishingly well rendered. How we see the backgrounds utilised throughout enhance the moments and work within the composition of the panels to bring us the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story is marvellous to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an exceptionally talented eye for storytelling. The creativity and imagination that is on display of utterly marvellous. The colour work that we see through the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is beautifully rendered.

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This really is an amazing story and there is so much about this rich world that’s yet to be fully explored. Now the possibilities are endless and there are so many different avenues that have opened up and scream to be explored. With some absolutely stellar writing and characterisation wrapped up in these bloody amazing interiors we are transported to a world thrown back into the dark ages where the planet is healing itself and mankind has to learn how to survive all over again.