IMAGE COMICS/Skybound – @ImageComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Robert Kirkman
ART: Lorenzo De Felici
COLORS: Annalisa Leoni
LETTERS: Rus Wooton
COVER: Lorenzo De Felici
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2018)
Rated T+/Teen Plus
Oblivion Song created by Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici
Oblivion Song is a new dystopian, science fiction, and adventure comic book created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Lorenzo De Felici. Kirkman and De Felici are joined by Annalisa Leoni on colors and Rus Wooton on letters as the creative team. Oblivion Song follows a man who enters a place called “Oblivion” to rescue humans trapped in this apocalyptic and hellish world.
Oblivion Song #1 is set on an Earth where ten years prior to the story, 30-square miles of land from another dimension were suddenly transposed into an American city. This event is called the “Transference.” It brought hordes of gargantuan monsters and a strange fungus-like substance, which caused the murder of some 20,000 people. Over time, the city was able both to reclaim some of its territory and to drive most of the creatures behind a wall. This wall separates the city from the slice of inter-dimensional wasteland, which some call “Oblivion,” that lies beyond it.
For a time, there were missions into the wasteland to search for human survivors trapped beyond the wall. Gradually, the passage of time and the fact that fewer and fewer survivors were found, government funding for and interest in the rescue missions faded. But not for Nathan Cole. He won't give up, even when everyone he knows starts to question his motives and to worry what consequences will come from continued trips into “Oblivion.”
Oblivion Song #1 is a big-old, event comic book, but unlike big-old, event comic books from Marvel and DC Comics, Oblivion Song #1 well exceeds the hype. It is a fantastic read for two reasons. First, “Oblivion” is a scary place that can be described as a “hellscape,” but there is something alluring about it for the readers and the characters (an allure they call “Oblivion Song”). Second, Nathan Cole is a complicated character who not only has intriguing motivation, but also has multiple competing and conflicting motivations. He is character readers will want to get to know.
Lorenzo De Felici's illustrations are fantastic, mixing exciting monster comic book graphics with character melodrama on the temperamental side. De Felici captures the characters' emotions in bold, powerful strokes that can be explosive, but also subtle in an edgy way that pokes at the reader.
Annalisa Leoni's colors are vivid and also garish. This garish, however, is good because it conveys both the nightmare reality of “Oblivion” and the frustrations and moods of the characters. Leoni uses lots of shades of blue, brown, green, orange, and purple, which give this comics narrative a unique look that is both real and hyper-real.
Rus Wooton's lettering is “quiet,” but it is a hot knife through butter. It is like a balance of just-right and overkill that makes the story punch through any wandering attentions. Wooton's lettering is a command... no... it is a demand that you pay attention.
Oblivion Song #1 is one of those individual comic books in which writer, illustrator, colorist, and letterer do their best work to create one exceptional work. This is the kind of comic book that if it wins any awards, all contributors must receive a trophy or certificate, because the honors should go to the entire creative team, at least in this instance. Issue two has a lot to live up to.
[This issue also a short sketchbook section with commentary by Lorenzo De Felici.]
9 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication and reprint rights and fees.
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