A new level of violence.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art/Colors/Letters: Juan Doe
What They Say:
The popularity contest of life is exposed when the remaining guests realize they’re being hunted down in the order of their social media ranking. The more followers you have, the bigger the target on your back. Now, the killer dubbed “Hashtag” isn’t the only predator — in order to survive, your fellow guest may turn out to be just as dangerous.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Bad Reception has definitely been an interesting series in its first two issues as we get Juan Does first work as a writer. While I do lean into it being a touch more verbose than it needs to be at some points, which continues in this issue as we see how detailed some of the dialogue is, the end result is that we’ve gotten a good handle on these characters even as the bodies start to drop. Doe’s artwork is what drew me to him to begin with as he’s had several great titles under his belt already and Bad Reception fits in beautifully in this realm. I love his character designs with how distinctive they are and the colorwork is just fantastic as we see his full vision brought to the page.
With the bodies already starting to pile up we get another at the opening here with Ignacio, enjoying his shrooms, taken down hard and fast. That he ends up as a pig roasting on an open spit is a little too on the nose in some ways but it makes for a chilling scene upon discovery. I do like that we also get a bit of quiet before this as it focuses on Jurek and Anastasia as they took advantage of the off the grid aspect for some nookie time and are feeling very mellow. Enough so that Anastasia finally comes across as human and plans out her desire to apologize else for how she acted before. It’s definitely great to see but it all goes out the window when she discovers not just Tommy but that any and all contact with the outside world is truly limited for at least another twelve hours. Unless they attempt something drastic.
There’s a lot to like in seeing how everyone reacts to Tommy and come up with a plan to survive for a bit while trying to figure out why they’re being killed and in what order as there’s something to discern there. These are not stupid people and are actively trying to deal with it. That said, other things happening along the way ups the ante as it progresses. Anastasia and Jurek head off to deal with some of the jamming that’s going on only to discover some of what’s causing all of them while others discover the computers and stolen phones that indicate who may be orchestrating a lot of what’s going on. Betrayals hit hard and fast here and the calmness in which it’s done definitely paints a few characters in a new and very grim light.
In Summary:
Bad Reception definitely has me hooked and enjoying but I also know that a story like this with its twists and turns will make for a great collection. Juan Doe delves into a couple more deaths here while also building up what we know of the characters and their relationship dynamics. It moves hard and fast in a few places but it also knows when to slow down and just let things sink in visually for the reader. I love the overall design of the book and the story is hitting the marks just right in getting us to good story points and building the tension.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: October 23rd, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
