The past always draws you back in.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brandon Thomas
Art: Lee Ferguson
Colors: Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
Winston Wallis has a secret. He is all that remains of mankind, and is surrounded on all sides by demons, monsters, and ghouls that picked up where humankind left off – lying, stealing, cheating, and killing.
Years ago, it was Winston’s job to investigate such things. Now his ex-partner needs help solving the brutal murder of the world’s largest Colossal. Because he knows the secret. He knows about the magical curse that gives Winston the ability to survive a world where everything is bigger, stronger, and angrier than he is. But how long can Win’s impossible luck last, and will this new case finally be the death of him?
He certainly hopes so…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Sometimes a series doesn’t give you enough to go on to figure out some of its foundational aspects right away and that can leave you feeling a bit off with it. Brandon Thomas drops us into the middle of a few complicated storylines that are going on with characters that have known each other for years that takes place in a world with some real history to it, so there’s an unnerving aspect to trying to piece things together. Thankfully, the story is interesting even if the basics are familiar – something that’s helpful – and we get some pretty solid artwork out of Lee Ferguson. This world is one where all sorts of being exists, demons and monster and the like apparently, with our leading character of Winston Wallis being the last human. Ferguson gets to have some fun creatively there in designing some of this even if most are still just base humanoid types.
Winston Wallis is presented as the kind of guy whose luck keeps him alive when others might get killed, as we see at the start through a convoluted process that seeks to connect him with his ex-partner Raleigh Crae when the two of them were inspectors or detectives of some sort together. While Winston dropped out of all of it and went off as a private investigator, Crae stayed in and worked the system in order to rise in the ranks. But now a Colossal, one of the biggest beings to inhabit the world, has been murdered and Crae really needs his help to figure it out as the two of them are really good together. They’ve got a history and know how the other works better than anyone else. And Winston’s gift of luck combined with the skill of an investigator is exactly what Crae needs. Winston’s just not having any of it and really wants nothing to do with any of them here in Carson City, Nevada.
Of course, events turn back at his own private investigator’s office when one of the beings that works there reveals that a beautiful damn has come in, classic noir style, seeking his help in figuring out who killed her husband. Who, of course, is the Colossal. No matter what he does, Winston is going to be drawn back in. It’s a pretty standard kind of reluctant noir story as we’ve seen many times before but the book doesn’t make it easy to get into it. I don’t expect all details right up front but it’s from the summary of the book that we learn that Winston is the last human in a world where the monsters and demons have taken over for mankind. I suspect we may find out the why or we may not. But we’re dropped into all of this without enough to feel grounded while relying mostly on the familiarity of a noir detective story.
In Summary:
There’s definitely potential with this series but it has a weak start to it mostly because I feel like it was more convoluted of an opening than it needed to be combined with missing some key elements to help ease us into this world and its unique areas. When you find out key things through how they sell it to retailers, well, that doesn’t work well for me sometimes. I like the ideas and I’m always a fan of a new slice of noir done in a fun way, so I’m game for what Thomas has in store and I’m excited to see what kind of creativity Ferguson will bring to the page when it comes to the creatures he can work with. The first issue may be a bit of a hurdle but I think it has some good bones to build on.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: October 28th, 2020
MSRP: $4.99
