The Last Book You'll Ever Read #1

The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1

Nightfall/Linebrakers/Vault Comics 2021

Written by Cullen Bunn

Illustrated by Leila Leiz

Coloured by Giada Marchisio

Lettered by Jim Campbell

Civilization is a lie. Hidden deep in our genes is the truth. And it is slowly clawing its way to the surface. Olivia Kade knows the truth, and she has become the prophet of the coming collapse. Her book, SATYR, is an international bestseller, and it is being blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world. Olivia's own life is in danger from those who have read her work. Determined to conduct a book tour, she hires security professional Connor Wilson to act as her bodyguard. She only has one requirement: he cannot read her work.

This is what happens when you let your imagination run riot. Cullen has become the new master of horror and that he is able to approach it from so many different avenues and angles is so extremely impressive to me. No two of his books are alike except in how well they are crafted and how his creativity and imagination comes to life, the stories themselves are all so different and unique and it boggles the mind that someone is able to be this prolific and still maintain such a varied identity.

I am loving 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 we see through the dialogue, the character development as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter do wonders in how we see them portrayed as people. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, introducing the characters and the world they live in is done exceedingly well.

I greatly appreciate the way that we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story emerge, grow and evolve over the issue. The layers are where we see the characterisation, the plot development and twists that change how we see the story moving forward. Whether they work with the main arc or simply swirl around it they add some 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 we see it move the story forward is perfectly achieved.

The interiors here are very much a familiar comic book style and they are really beautifully rendered. The linework is great and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work is sensational to see. I love the we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance the moments and work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. 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. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a strong eye for how colour works and how to maximise the affect it can have.

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I really do rather like the way that this is being told. A literary signing at a bookstore, god I miss actual bookstores, where literally all hell breaks loose and then we see the windfall of blame start to be tossed about. There is something about the idea behind the story, how it is conveyed and how the reader sees and experiences this that brilliantly captures the readers mind and imagination as it also engages them and gets them invested in the story. It is a brilliantly done book with some spectacular writing and characterisation with some absolutely charming and disarming interiors.