Further down the layers we go…
Creative Staff:
Story: Lonnie Nadler, Zac Thompson
Art: Kyle Charles
Letterer: Ryan Ferrier
What They Say:
Lynn and William Blake confront the anxiety-ridden mad judge of hell, Franz Kafka. Lynn descends further down the fiery depths into the circle of gluttony, where Cerberus awaits with a hunger of his own. Plus, a guest appearance by the world’s most beloved author of suspense and mystery!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of this five-part series was one that delivered some really strng material before the descent itself happened. Giving us a look at the old woman, Lynn, who had lost so much and the mental headspace she was in was intriguing from that alone. Nadler and Thompson delivered the right kind of approach for it and Kyle Charles brought it to life just right with a rough and raw aspect and some really great color work. It’s the kind of property that requires a distinctive look across the board and this team nailed it.
With some form of progress having been made, Lynn is now facing off against a really difficult challenge in the layer of lust where Franz Kafka is in charge of deciding what people will experience. It’s an incredibly long line, something that reinforces the difficult of her mission, because as many people as there are in the world there are so many more that are dead and waiting to be processed. In fact, Kafka has been spending months trying to figure out the sin and placement of the Marquis de Sade, which is slowing up the works. Kafka’s intriguing and disturbing here as he talks about fathers and how difficult they are to place while being so similar while Lynn talks of trying to find her husband and children. There’s a lot of interesting aspects to this layer and how she navigates it with Blake, leading to an amusing kind of confrontation through his works.
With Blake providing some clue in that Lynn will know when her family is near when the times comes, they make their way to the next layer with the “eternal feast” that’s going on. This one is similarly intriguing as there’s plenty of nods toward food and the consuming of slop but we also get the gluttony of social media approval mixed in, which I really like. We get more clues of her family coming through and that sets the journey further along but it’s close to coming to a place where Blake cannot go, making for a wonderful surprise guide to show up at the end. This layer isn’t quite as interesting as Kafka’s and I think that comes down to the difference in the “showrunner” for it as this layer with its multi headed beast doesn’t quite engage, though I think Charles came up with a fantastic design for it.
In Summary:
While not exactly quite as strong as the first issue as I really enjoyed those opening pages with our leading lady, this installment takes us through two more layers of hell as she searches for her family. The writing is strong with creative use of Blake’s works to deal with problems along the way, including Kafka of all people. The gluttony level has its neat moments and I really like what Charles is bringing to the book with its design and creativity that makes it thoroughly engaging. I can’t wait to see what’s to come and hope that the book is getting every chance it can to flex itself to tell the tale as strongly as it wants to.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: May 23rd, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
