New twisty turns and uncertainties.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ryan O’Sullivan
Art: Andrea Mutti
Colors: Vladimir Popov
Letterer: Andworld Design
What They Say:
What happens in Issue #2? The plot continues. What else should I say? Why has my “publisher” asked me to pen the marketing copy for my own brilliance when there are perfectly good copywriters who… [Message truncated at the request of Vault Comics]
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’ll admit, there’s a fun and excitement in reading something like A Dark Interlude without having read Fearscape. I almost suspect this book might make sense if I had done so. But here I am, trying to decipher what Ryan O’Sullivan is putting to page, and I’m enjoying the adventure even if I’m likely not getting it as intended. There’s a lot to like here in a book as verbose as this with its kind of surreal feeling and Andrea Mutti has been doing great work in bringing it to life. Though I cut my teeth on their more grounded and human stories, the look of the supernatural or whatever it is definitely is distinctive and engaging in design, particularly with Vladimir Popov’s color design, giving it that extra edge.
The gist of things is that Henry Henry’s death is imminent and that’s creating the situation where a change event is going to happen with a new Storyteller and a new fear to surface. Though he’s not dead yet, he’s close and others like Hero and Muse are feeling it, becoming drawn to where Henry is in order to try and bring closure to it all and understand what’s to come. But Henry is also facing a different threat as Rose Mary Proctor is already there by his bedside, attempting to get him to sign or forge his name to the documents that will let her control the sequel story that will provide for so much. You don’t want to see her succeed, especially based on Henry’s narration while unable to speak aloud, because it’s a thrill to see her get so close to things but be just as far from her goal as could be.
The entire hospital sequence is just fascinating to watch from the challenge of writing alone as we see Henry trying to get Jill, who came along with Muse, to use her voice as his in order to stop Rose Mary. But there are disturbances along the way and Jill’s own coping with events. It’s engaging to see it play out, especially as Muse tries to console her (and learn that Rose Mary is already too late) as the interpersonal drama of family exposes itself to the coldness of the hospital. But we also see in the Fearscape how things are getting worse there with the Bard now mortally wounded or dead and others becoming nervous about the changes ahead and the uncertainty of it all – combined with a little ire toward the Hero in that he wasn’t there when needed when the new fear started taking form and causing problems.
In Summary:
This series is really quite interesting and I hope I’m at least half right on what it’s really all about. I’m definitely curious about the Fearscape series but I don’t want to touch that until this one is done since I’m really enjoying going through this discovery experience. O’Sullivan’s got some really neat and creative writing tricks going on here to tell the tale as he wants to and Mutti’s artwork delivers in spades across the board. This isn’t a work for everyone but it’s one that’s really caught my attention and has drawn me in more and more.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: December 23rd, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
