The Picture of Everything Else #2

The Picture of Everything Else #2

Vault Comics 2021

Written by Dan Watters

Illustrated by Kishore Mohan

Lettered by Aditya Bidikar

Marcel has abandoned painting for the glamorous world of criticism. But a monster has returned to Paris with a Faustian offer he cannot refuse. Old wounds will be opened. New wounds will be formed with paintbrush and gun smoke.

Wow what a jump from the last issue! With Marcel now alone and seemingly lost and adrift he’s got his few friends and the one person he loved and counted on the most has up and left him changing his life. So here we are with the aftermath of all that and I have to say that the unexpectedness of what we see here is utterly amazing in so many ways. After the way we left things I wasn’t sure which direction this was going to go so that it went this way is kind of exciting and thrilling to me. I love being surprised and since it seems that this is going to do just that every step of the way which makes me even more excited to see what’s coming next.

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 in such a magnificent way. This has all the earmarks of a romantic period piece thriller and it rivals even that of Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray or even the Great Gatsby and in that vein this has those twists & turns impeccably down. The character development that we see is rather marvellous as well. Seeing how they act and react to one another and the dialogue that we see is stupendous in how it keeps fleshing them out further. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way we continue to see just how intoxicating this story can be.

With the way that this is structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge and those from last issue grow stronger we can marvel at the complexity and depth of range they encompass. I am also enjoying how we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as the story does manage to move much to quick for my comfort.

The interiors here are so very lovely. I am a loving the linework that we see here and how it does wonders to set the stage for the colour work we see. Because of the combination that we see utilised throughout and we see backgrounds being created is beyond sensational. The detail work that we see throughout and how it’s created is something that takes extreme talent and skill to do. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work we see is beyond gorgeous. I mean the watercolour painted style that we see and how the various hues and tones within the colours are being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is extraordinary. I mean just the way the colour works to add depth and detail to the work is almost indescribable. It takes a mastery of knowledge for not only how colour works but how they affect what we see and how we see it and it is without a doubt some of the most mindbogglingly good work I’ve even seen.

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I have seen many variations and iterations of the Picture of Dorian Gray and this one by far is my favourite among them. That it takes the art of the subject and is able to kill the subject or cause them direct and massive harm well it’s a new one on me. This is why vault is the leader in the science fiction genre.