Kat’s starting to really understand why she shouldn’t have come back.
Creative Staff:
Story: Daniel Kraus
Art: Chris Shehan
Colors: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
What They Say:
The sudden vanishing of a Comfort Notch citizen compels Kat to follow a hidden-in-plain-sight clue… before the worst omen of all manifests from the leaves.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Autumnal continues to be a pretty engaging book that moves at a slow speed in all the right ways. Daniel Kraus has set the pace so that the reveals feel natural in how they come out and that makes it so that everything flows in a way that allows it all to sink in really well. That combined with Chris Shehan’s artwork is really strong here as the design and look of it, especially as Wordie really nails the color design for it, a pretty haunting title. That they can make a single dead leaf stand out in a really disturbing way says a lot in combination of the talents. I really like what this team is putting together and that they haven’t tried to force the reveals sooner than they need to be.
Kat’s return to the town has her working through things with Carol a bit and that’s just not easy considering how Carol treats everyone. She does kind of want to make amends or some sort of peace with Kat considering all that she did, but years of what she’s been through has her standoffish and aggressive for understandable reasons. I do love that Kat keeps trying, however, as it shows a good bit of what type of person she is. Carol, for her part, does try to do right here but we again see how the town of Comfort Notch eats its own, especially the troublemakers, as she ends up in the leaves on her walk home later. When Kat discovers that later and that Carol is dead, it just reinforces the pain of this place with her. Especially since you’ve got the cops calling it an overdose without even looking at her, just basing it on reputation, at a time when Kat knows that she’s most definitely clean.
Kat’s story takes some other interesting turns in between some of those vents as well. Her time with the mayor in the diner makes it clear that they’re someone to be wary of with the happy friendly demeanor that knows so much about so many people, Kat included. He’s got his own past that he uses as an example of how stories aren’t true but it feels like a too obvious cover attempt. I also like that Kat’s “tattoo remover” shows up at her place as well and the two find some time to get very intimate with each other – and outside at that. It’s another look at what kind of person Kat is and we see how quickly she’s pulling him into her orbit as a boyfriend when we see her figuring out how she ended up with the house and going to meet the old woman that’s not altogether there all of the time. It’s exploring a few more pieces of the past and why Kat is in a very dangerous place as her mother may have saved her in the end but condemned her to something worse.
In Summary:
I continue to really enjoy The Autumnal with the mood that it presents throughout with its mood and style. Though the story is slowly doling out bits and pieces of what’s actually going on, it’s doing it in a way that makes each issue engaging and never feels like it’s dragging out in a problematic way. I’m enjoying see more of Kat finding things to engage with in the world and almost thinking she could find a life here again but to also have so many things warning her away. I love the dialogue and the style of it as well as just being totally into the art style in a big way. I can’t wait for more.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Vault Comics | Amazon | ComiXology
Release Date: March 10th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
