World Reader #1 Review (Aftershock)

Writer: Jeff Loveness
Artist: Juan Doe
Colorist: Rachel Deering
Cover: Juan Doe
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 19, 2017
Review by: Ryan Douglas

Bounded by time, By its order

Aftershock Comics has been on my radar since reading Eleanor and The Egret. This was another instance where the cover caught my attention to give it chance. With so many books already piling up in my stash. I’m wondering if World Reader will join the ranks and be worthy enough to stick around and add it to my NCBD picks. Let’s explore this new sci-fi story...

We open the issue meeting our main character Sarah, who has the ability to connect with planets in order to learn of it’s past. Her crew and she have traveled to several planets thus far trying to find any sort of life. Instead, they only come across dead planets with no sign of existence. As she attempts to learn more about this planet her connection is too weak and she isn’t able to make contact with previous life. This leaves the Captain upset and ready to move onward to their next destination. There we see a quick backstory of the Captain. Showing us he once only set out to explore the galaxy and now has the mind set on finding the afterlife on these planets. Sarah at least has one crew member, Harris is more friendly towards her.

When Harris and Sarah are called back to the ship in order to depart. Harris has faith in Sarah and stalls the departure allowing her to give the reading another go. This time Sarah concentrates on making contact with the afterlife on the planet. In doing so, she has come across a child and once she’s made contact with him she’s shown what transpired to leave the planet desolate. It’s an emotional vision of the events which caused the planet to be wiped out.

Coming out of the visions, Sarah questions where everyone else has gone. The child points off the panel to show us the death bringer who has collected these bodies. When Sarah realizes what may happen to her she rushes to connect back with her dormant body. It almost feels like a nightmare as the death bringer wraps its tentacle like tongue around her body. She’s able to wake up, being held in Harris’s arms and explains to Harris the reason behind the nonexistent life on these planets they’ve come across.

This was a very quick read and I thought it did a good job of introducing us to the main character and her surroundings. The story has the potential of becoming a cookie cutter sort of sci-fi story we’ve seen a billion times. But there is a unique approach of using language to make contact with afterlife which I enjoyed. Jeff Loveness use a narration really helped carry the story making it very engaging for myself.  Overall, there is enough here to keep me interested to find answers moving forward.

Juan Doe and Rachel Deering’s art is the perfect fit for the book and is stunning to look at. They’ve done an amazing job of bringing these characters and the world to life. If there were no words on the pages, the art would act as a silent film and I’d understand everything taking place.

Bits and Pieces:

There is enough here to introduce you to our main character and get a grasp of who she is. The events that have transpired thus far will leave you sticking around to see how things unfold. If you didn’t get enough of the movie Arrival. This is the perfect comic to fill that void.

8.0/10