“Lessons”
Creative Staff:
Story: Tim Daniel, David Andry
Art: Sunando C
Colors: Kurt Michael Russell
Letterer: Jim Campbell
What They Say:
Life is nothing if not a series of endings.
School. Jobs. Friendships. Love.
Until THE end.
Walter Willem’s end was fast and unexpected. His was an unremarkable life. So, how is it that his story continues as cannon fodder in an endless war waged against an insatiable darkness hellbent on consuming all of existence?
And is Walter right in believing he’s arrived in the midst of this titanic battle as the one destined to finally end it? That’s the tale of the End After End.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
A new series that brings together the writing talents of Resonant and The Plot? Sign me up. Writers David Andry and Tim Daniel definitely delighted me with both of those works in very different ways and bringing them together for a project like this has the right layer of an unnerving feeling about it. The pair throw us into events here without too much explanation but it works well to set up some of the pace. It’s also strong in that Sunando C’s artwork is great here, giving me some early Brian Steelfreeze vibes that definitely tickle my fancy. The look is distinctive yet at the same time has a kind of vague looseness about it that works for the story and setting itself. It’s got some really distinctive characters but has such a amorphous setting that it really delivers well.
The premise for this introduces us to Walter Willem, a young-ish man who is in the subway taking a picture of a strange bug when he ends up falling onto the tracks just as a train comes barreling down the line. Willem doesn’t end up dead, or at least final dead, as he’s instead thrown into this other place where he’s not quite dead yet. To his surprise beyond that, he’s in a place where a massive sprawling war is going on between all kinds of people and some demonic-like supernatural beings. Willem gets some help from Grink, a scrawny older man who suggests what to do to stay alive, and Willem is able to deal with that by making it through his first battle. It’s simple stuff like holding the shield facing forward, grabbing the sword and stabbing the bad creatures with it. Not that he does it well at first, but he takes to it enough to stay alive and get a bit more information over some food later.
What we get from the downtime and from some bits in the fight is that this ever-forward fight is to bring a warrior woman known as The Catha to go up against the opponent leading the other side. It’s very old-school in terms of large battles with many people and the idea we get is that when some people die in our world, most or all end up here in the midst of the sprawling fight and must take up arms until they end up dying here. We see people from all different periods in time so there’s definitely some haziness here in how all of this works but the creative team isn’t giving us all the details just yet. What we get is an intriguing idea with some strong artwork and infectious energy to keep us interested. Willem has the potential of a decent leading character here as well as through him we’ll learn more and see if he steps up to the plate or finds a new way, but the opening installment drops us into things well.
In Summary:
With a lot of books about what’s after death out there lately, it’s definitely fitting a mood that a lot of writers and readers are in. Andry and Daniel have put together the strong opening issue that sets a tone and energy about it while promising something to come in regards to the story. It’s an easy concept to expand upon and the teases we get here are interesting enough to draw you back. And that’s if the artwork didn’t already accomplish that. Sunando C’s design and style here with Kurt Michael Russell’s color design really gives us something that stands out and has me excited for where else it’ll go and reveal and what kind of creativity is still to come. It’s a great opening issue.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: August 24th, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
