The FOC for Aftershock Comics’ I Breathed a Body is today. I recommend you call your shop and add it to your pull list, because it is excellent — and awful, but in good ways.
I Breathed a Body is out in just a few weeks, and feels like the followup to Lonely Receiver, which shares writer Zac Thompson (Jen Hickman will be missed, however). It’s a book about technology, how we use it, and how it uses us, what it reveals about us. However, being that it’s a new series and not a sequel or continuation, it is different in some fundamental ways; notably, I Breathed a Body is about those in power and how they use it. While it seems to share some core themes with Thompson’s previous comic, I Breathed a Body is a completely different beast.
On one hand, this is obvious, just because of artist Andy MacDonald. His work throughout the issue works in different modes, at times showing great detail and control, and others looking more vague and sporadic. They don’t always pair in the ways listed, but the effect always feels right for the scene.
Add in color artist Triona Ferrell, and we’ve got a future award-winning art team on this book. Together, they make this issue into something that looks beautiful in places that should just be unsettling, and Ferrell heightens the mood accordingly. The reds and thick panel outlines bring to mind Walta and Bellaire in a subtle way that feels more like the team’s level of skill than anything else.
The lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou suits the story perfectly, with an excellent font choice and some flourishes that are great to read, and I can’t wait for more people to see them.
This comic is one that I’ve been hyped for since it was announced and it’s perfectly met that expectation. The pitch feels perfect for me, but more than that, it’s timely in a way that comics often fail to be, and even refuse to be at times. It does what great pieces of art do: it’s taking these relevant ideas, stringing them along themes, and using metaphors to build a narrative that’s meaningful.
Today is the last day for comic book shops to be able to order the first issue of this comic for you, and I highly recommend it. This will no doubt be one of the premier horror comics of the year, with some of the best art in the industry and a fantastic story. If you want this comic, the best way to get it is to tell a retailer that you want it! So do that, and we can talk more about it when it’s out.
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