The back streets and alleyways of magic.
Creative Staff:
Story: Justin Jordan
Art: Eleonara Carlini
Colors: Silvia Tidei
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
What They Say:
There is a hidden nation. A nation of magic and madness, one that exists in all the forgotten spaces. Your basement, your attic, the haunted house down the street, anyone of those might be a part of the Backways. Anna Merrick lost someone in the Backways, and she’ll stop at NOTHING to get them back. Even if it means unleashing something unimaginable.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While I grew up reading a lot of books involving magic, and a few comics along the way as well, it’s never been something that I’ve been huge into. I’ve enjoyed gaming in the old days with it but at that time a lot of the books involving it were all just retreads of each other and Lord of the Rings to varying degrees. Comics turned it more into superheroes with rules that went out the window. That’s changed over the years and can be a lot more interesting in single-story projects like Backways, which comes from writer Justin Jordan and artist Elonara Carlini. Jordan plays this opening like a young adult book for the most part and it’s really well illustrated by Carlini as I’ve enjoyed her work for a bit now as there’s some great detail and movement between panels that keeps everything moving forward in a great way.
The premise for this is classic in its approach as we watch a young woman named Sylvia that finds herself drawn/pulled into a mirror with a magical bent to it, which as we discover is basically a locked room mystery for everyone that she left behind. Her mother has no idea what’s happened but she places blame on her friend Anna, who may be something more but it’s very open to interpretation at the moment. Anna wants to be involved in finding her but realizes that there’s something really strange going on because of the locked room aspect to it. Anna’s dedication to figuring this out ends up drawing her into a bigger web when she sneaks into Sylvia’s room afterward to try and find clues herself and ends up working a little magic herself, or so it seems, only to be interrupted by the arrival of a young woman named Cowboy Bones.
Bones is who opens us up to what goes on from here as there’s a good bit of back and forth before Anna ends up opening a way into a different place (Utah!) and has to wrangle with a creepy character on the other side that can manipulate people’s flesh. Though it’s teased out with a little bit of horror and a little bit of a chase, we learn about how there’s these “backways” around the country that those with magic utilize. It’s a little nation of its own of sorts as they work various forgotten locations, such as the hospital in Utah, that was abandoned ages ago as their own. We get a nice teasing spread toward the end of what it can be but most of the book is focused on Anna and her first steps into this new world just behind the curtain of her own and it’s one she’ll embrace in order to find Sylvia.
In Summary:
Backways works some familiar ideas with solid execution and style as this is all about the first sliver of exposure to the world that Jordan and Carlini are looking to play in. The focus on Anna gives us a good feeling for her and her tenacious nature that definitely works well and leaves you wanting more and to know more of her relationship with Sylvia. The magical side of things isn’t explored deeply in the how and why but the first two people we’re exposed to are certainly interesting and there’s lots of potential here with the concept of the backways and what it can be. I like what Jordan has set up and Carlini delivers a great looking book with strong character designs and a great sense of setting that makes it feel lived in and real as we move through several locations. I’m excited to see what the book has in store going forward as it moves past the familiar opening motions.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: December 20th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
