Aftershock Comics Reviews (Mary Shelley, Animosity, Dark Red)
Reviews on the following Aftershock comics in the order I read them:
- Mary Shelley Monster Hunter (1-4)
- Animosity (21-22)
- Dark Red (3-6)
Individual series information can be found here
Mary Shelley Monster Hunter
Issues: 1-4
Rating: 3/5 stars
The rating is a bit higher than I thought it would be by the end of issue 2, but things grow on me a bit. This comic is really about what it means to be human.
It is rumoured that Mary Shelley had a missing story. After giving a tour of Shelley’s London home, a guide finds this story under the floorboards.
The lack of some of the detail in the art both works for the grittiness of the comic, but is also distracting because I think there CAN be more.
It begins with the fact that she and Percy Shelley are quite progressive, and not just towards marriage. Neither deems any person as “illegitimate,” no matter their birth and/or life circumstances. But because of this, and their out-of-wedlock pregnancy, they along with Lord Byron, Mary’s stepsister Claire, and their maid Fanny are kicked out of their rented home in Geneva. A stranger brings them to the home of Doctor [Victoria] Frankenstein.
But they don’t meet their host for weeks, confined to this mansion of strange noises, drops of blood, and a foot that was stolen from a morgue. The winter weather prevents them from escaping. The five decide to write a horror story as their boredom at the books (and life) in the house overtakes them.
That is when Mary meets Victoria, daughter of Victor Frankenstein, who once posed as her cousin to get into med school. But that was a dumb idea to pose as a real person because her sex is discovered and she is kicked out. This sparks a drive to ensure any woman can pursue her passions...but she approaches this in a vile way.
She wants to MAKE a progressive male--a SLAVE--to aid such women...and now she wants Mary to educate the creature made of dead men.
It’s despicable, and Mary goes along with it, despite Percy’s protests that his premonitions are rarely wrong.
So now I don’t like Mary Shelley...until issue 3. Well, sort of.
Despite the atrocities (moral and other) in creating a hybrid hyman, I like that Mary recognizes that the creature DOES have humanity and is innocent in his initial behavior.
I abhor that Victoria and Imogen feel that even the primal instinct of desire would breed negative feelings in the future. Mary disagrees and differentiates between instinct and impulse.
Um...when you create a near-automaton and teach him to obey and protect certain women, he will be quite unpredictable.
With awful results.
I agree with Mary in issue 4 that it’s not his fault, since Victoria was all about creating the perfect man who listens to what she says and not about teaching him to value life.
And then she prevents this learning from occurring by trying to kill him. In turn, she does create a true monster.
Percy’s visions become more and more interesting.
Animosity
Issues: 21-22
Rating: 4.4/5 stars
The message these two issues--but really, the message the entire series is starting to show--that begins to deny aspects of belief and instead focuses on materialistic and atheistic aspects makes me a bit uneasy. That message is the reason for my lower-than-usual rating.
Issue 21:
I love that Jesse has friends in Zarza and others, even though their part of the story isn’t expanded on past the first page.
The Gateway of Hibernaculum is psychedelic.
I like that the snakes provide different ways that magic and beliefs and deities were a part of our understandings since we were “ennobled”--which I’m reading as becoming self-aware.
I like that the pages on stories in the Old Testament were presented a lot differently. They’re unique and show that they are indeed not a part of this story but important to the story.
I hate how the “animal god” says there is no point in being good, but to live and die as we will.
Jesse’s path though is much better than Sandor’s.
I know this isn’t the intent, but reading this issue brought to mind Laudato Si by Pope Francis. The more we grow to disregard animals, the more we disregard ourselves and each other. The more egotistic we become in thinking we are in control, the more we turn away from God. This in turn causes even more issues.
Jesse’s questions and doubts are something we can all relate to, something all humanity shares. Her declining will is devastating.
I do love the galaxy-style art on the third-to-last page. Beautiful.
Issue 22:
Guh, that cover. I bloody love that cover.
I don’t think I realized that Jesse and Sandor were at the Tree of Knowledge.
Zarza, Ben, and Potter arrive to a house of sssnnnaaakkeesssssss...and they help to get the two back on track after the Lindworm provides the antidote.
I am SO GLAD that Jesse is shown to have a soul!
I got the feeling that the snakes and even Sandor implied that Jesse didn’t REALLY believe in the afterlife to begin with, so she didn’t bring the idea of God or magic with her.
There is a great reminder that we’ll always have excuses and believe that things will be better, that there will be time in the future...and we don’t make things happen now.
The end is a very sad and sobering reminder that the apple, the temptation of knowing all, is better than the “ignorance” of the past.
Dark Red
Issues: 3-6
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Holy cow, these are intense issues! I do (still?) like how the text changes color between vampire and human forms.
The third issue has a lot of background on Chip, including how he became a vampire and the events of WWII leading up to it. I actually liked it since I was put off a bit by some of the vampire antics in issue 2.
On their way to a French village, where Hotel Henri is, Chip and his fellow soldiers are warned about “Le Cabion”--a devil child. Chip gets dyptheria and is saved by this demon kid, who in turn sacrifices herself to some freaking awful Nazis. These guys are all about experimentation on top of ridding the world of non-Christian whites.
The effects of cyanide capsules on vampires are awesome (when the vamp is an enemy).
So we really learn why Chip hates vampires, and page 6 of volume 5 is one of the best-ofs of Aftershock: KILL NAZIS LIKE A GOOD AMERICAN.
Cam and Stu learn the truth about vampires and Chip because Chip needs to rid the town of Nazis led by Kamille Magdelena Kaczmarek. She is crazy extreme and I love when she dies.
Cam is quite homophobic and it grates on me, though we learn why when he tells of Stu’s background.
When anyone believes a certain group is ‘subhuman,’ their behavior towards that group is then justified.
--We saw that with the Nazis, we see that with any genocide...and we see that with abortion culture.--
Volume 5 ends odd; the Chicago stuff confuses me. Though Evie is hailed as a hero, as well she should be, after surviving being kidnapped by Kamille.
Issue 6 starts a new arc, and one that is intriguing. Renee, Chip’s boss, is not so bad, though I didn’t like her much in issue 1.
I like that Chip explains why he can’t consume human food--a vampire’s body composition is different and therefore processes things differently.
It is strange (that is, different for me), that he can’t drink animal blood either.
I like the panels of Chip chasing the Were. I also like that Weres can have Were children, which is different for me.
Once Armisticio told Chip to enthrall him, I was intrigued. He’s a bad guy for sure, but one who doesn’t like what he is being asked to do, or at least doesn’t like his original enthraller.
- Mary Shelley Monster Hunter (1-4)
- Animosity (21-22)
- Dark Red (3-6)
Individual series information can be found here
Mary Shelley Monster Hunter
Issues: 1-4
Rating: 3/5 stars
The rating is a bit higher than I thought it would be by the end of issue 2, but things grow on me a bit. This comic is really about what it means to be human.
It is rumoured that Mary Shelley had a missing story. After giving a tour of Shelley’s London home, a guide finds this story under the floorboards.
The lack of some of the detail in the art both works for the grittiness of the comic, but is also distracting because I think there CAN be more.
It begins with the fact that she and Percy Shelley are quite progressive, and not just towards marriage. Neither deems any person as “illegitimate,” no matter their birth and/or life circumstances. But because of this, and their out-of-wedlock pregnancy, they along with Lord Byron, Mary’s stepsister Claire, and their maid Fanny are kicked out of their rented home in Geneva. A stranger brings them to the home of Doctor [Victoria] Frankenstein.
But they don’t meet their host for weeks, confined to this mansion of strange noises, drops of blood, and a foot that was stolen from a morgue. The winter weather prevents them from escaping. The five decide to write a horror story as their boredom at the books (and life) in the house overtakes them.
That is when Mary meets Victoria, daughter of Victor Frankenstein, who once posed as her cousin to get into med school. But that was a dumb idea to pose as a real person because her sex is discovered and she is kicked out. This sparks a drive to ensure any woman can pursue her passions...but she approaches this in a vile way.
She wants to MAKE a progressive male--a SLAVE--to aid such women...and now she wants Mary to educate the creature made of dead men.
It’s despicable, and Mary goes along with it, despite Percy’s protests that his premonitions are rarely wrong.
So now I don’t like Mary Shelley...until issue 3. Well, sort of.
Despite the atrocities (moral and other) in creating a hybrid hyman, I like that Mary recognizes that the creature DOES have humanity and is innocent in his initial behavior.
I abhor that Victoria and Imogen feel that even the primal instinct of desire would breed negative feelings in the future. Mary disagrees and differentiates between instinct and impulse.
Um...when you create a near-automaton and teach him to obey and protect certain women, he will be quite unpredictable.
With awful results.
I agree with Mary in issue 4 that it’s not his fault, since Victoria was all about creating the perfect man who listens to what she says and not about teaching him to value life.
And then she prevents this learning from occurring by trying to kill him. In turn, she does create a true monster.
Percy’s visions become more and more interesting.
Animosity
Issues: 21-22
Rating: 4.4/5 stars
The message these two issues--but really, the message the entire series is starting to show--that begins to deny aspects of belief and instead focuses on materialistic and atheistic aspects makes me a bit uneasy. That message is the reason for my lower-than-usual rating.
Issue 21:
I love that Jesse has friends in Zarza and others, even though their part of the story isn’t expanded on past the first page.
The Gateway of Hibernaculum is psychedelic.
I like that the snakes provide different ways that magic and beliefs and deities were a part of our understandings since we were “ennobled”--which I’m reading as becoming self-aware.
I like that the pages on stories in the Old Testament were presented a lot differently. They’re unique and show that they are indeed not a part of this story but important to the story.
I hate how the “animal god” says there is no point in being good, but to live and die as we will.
Jesse’s path though is much better than Sandor’s.
I know this isn’t the intent, but reading this issue brought to mind Laudato Si by Pope Francis. The more we grow to disregard animals, the more we disregard ourselves and each other. The more egotistic we become in thinking we are in control, the more we turn away from God. This in turn causes even more issues.
Jesse’s questions and doubts are something we can all relate to, something all humanity shares. Her declining will is devastating.
I do love the galaxy-style art on the third-to-last page. Beautiful.
Issue 22:
Guh, that cover. I bloody love that cover.
I don’t think I realized that Jesse and Sandor were at the Tree of Knowledge.
Zarza, Ben, and Potter arrive to a house of sssnnnaaakkeesssssss...and they help to get the two back on track after the Lindworm provides the antidote.
I am SO GLAD that Jesse is shown to have a soul!
I got the feeling that the snakes and even Sandor implied that Jesse didn’t REALLY believe in the afterlife to begin with, so she didn’t bring the idea of God or magic with her.
There is a great reminder that we’ll always have excuses and believe that things will be better, that there will be time in the future...and we don’t make things happen now.
The end is a very sad and sobering reminder that the apple, the temptation of knowing all, is better than the “ignorance” of the past.
Dark Red
Issues: 3-6
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Holy cow, these are intense issues! I do (still?) like how the text changes color between vampire and human forms.
The third issue has a lot of background on Chip, including how he became a vampire and the events of WWII leading up to it. I actually liked it since I was put off a bit by some of the vampire antics in issue 2.
On their way to a French village, where Hotel Henri is, Chip and his fellow soldiers are warned about “Le Cabion”--a devil child. Chip gets dyptheria and is saved by this demon kid, who in turn sacrifices herself to some freaking awful Nazis. These guys are all about experimentation on top of ridding the world of non-Christian whites.
The effects of cyanide capsules on vampires are awesome (when the vamp is an enemy).
So we really learn why Chip hates vampires, and page 6 of volume 5 is one of the best-ofs of Aftershock: KILL NAZIS LIKE A GOOD AMERICAN.
Cam and Stu learn the truth about vampires and Chip because Chip needs to rid the town of Nazis led by Kamille Magdelena Kaczmarek. She is crazy extreme and I love when she dies.
Cam is quite homophobic and it grates on me, though we learn why when he tells of Stu’s background.
When anyone believes a certain group is ‘subhuman,’ their behavior towards that group is then justified.
--We saw that with the Nazis, we see that with any genocide...and we see that with abortion culture.--
Volume 5 ends odd; the Chicago stuff confuses me. Though Evie is hailed as a hero, as well she should be, after surviving being kidnapped by Kamille.
Issue 6 starts a new arc, and one that is intriguing. Renee, Chip’s boss, is not so bad, though I didn’t like her much in issue 1.
I like that Chip explains why he can’t consume human food--a vampire’s body composition is different and therefore processes things differently.
It is strange (that is, different for me), that he can’t drink animal blood either.
I like the panels of Chip chasing the Were. I also like that Weres can have Were children, which is different for me.
Once Armisticio told Chip to enthrall him, I was intrigued. He’s a bad guy for sure, but one who doesn’t like what he is being asked to do, or at least doesn’t like his original enthraller.