REVIEW: All Eight Eyes #3 (of 4)

Spiders. Love them or hate them, if you see one that’s more than an inch tall you better run right back home. This comic is filled with nasty arachnoids that are bigger than your standard honda civic. This is a great book and a particularly great story. In issue 3 of “All Eight Eyes” we are still getting to know the world and the characters, but I gotta say that this is one of those stories that is just done so well that it’s hard not to like it. Reading it is a breeze because it’s not too complicated but at the same time it’s not so simple that it feels like you’re reading a children’s book. It’s great. The art is outstanding and il love the cross-hatching techniques used in it because it gives it a grimy and grungy look that fits well with the story being told. This particular issue revolves around a kid with red hair named Vinny who hunts big spiders that are terrorizing what looks to be the NYC cityscape.

Vinny met a homeless man that has the same mission and together they will rid the city of this eight-legged menace. I honestly loved everything about this book. From the character designs which are all very unique and distinct to the way they portray the huge spiders, it’s fantastic. I truly appreciate it when artists are able to create human characters that are all so different from each other without having to deviate from the semi-realistic cartoony style and proportions. Even though something like 80% of comics contain human characters in them, I very often see artists creating characters that are simply too similar to each other, so when you get a comic like this where everyone is easy to look at and quickly distinguishable it makes me very happy. I would however have loved to see a couple of heavy-set people in the comic just to spice up that aspect of the design a little more, everyone in this comic is skinny and fit, even the background characters. Throwing in a couple of bellies and thick tights here and there would bump up the character design contrast even further, but it’s not too big of an issue, I just personally love to see all types of different bodies in my comics.

Another aspect I really enjoyed in this comic was the full-page illustrations. Many of the full pageys include action sequences with spiders either attacking or being attacked, and I genuinely enjoyed those illustrations greatly. I think they were able to capture the monstrosity of giant spiders very well. They are both quite realistic with all of their limbs poking out of their thorax and yet they have an air of exaggeration that turns them from an oversized spider into an actual monster and I love that. The crosshatching used to depict the hairs of the spiders work so well too that you can appreciate that these are in fact hairy spiders and it would feel gross to be touched by one of those hairy spindly legs. Huge props to both Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson for the amazing work they did to illustrate and color (respectively) this comic. They are fantastic artists and it shows in every one of these pages. A little sidenote by the way, isn’t Brad Simpson such an amazing name? Unbully-able, what are kids gonna call you? Bard Simpson?! That’s bully-proof right there.

Lastly, major props to Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou whose lettering is thought out and ties everything together wonderfully. From the custom-made word balloons to the exaggerated text and the sound fxs. Hassan did an amazing job at lettering this comic in such a way that it feels like it’s all one piece of art and not text stickers on top of amazing art. This kind of lettering makes me love the art form so much. Each one of those pieces of text is handled with the utmost care and attention to detail that I can’t help but think of Hassan as just as much an artist as Piotr and Brad, and I love when that happens. These aren’t your standard fonts being added in Illustrator, nah, this is straight-up artistry, to the point that if a sound fx is being repeated you’ll get two variations of the same text with alternate stylings so it feels like two different sounds happening instead of the same sound happening twice, even the size of the text makes it feel like the sound is happening for longer, or at a higher or lower volume. This type of stuff turns comics into cinematic experiences, and there is literally no end to the amount of sfxs you get on this comic. If you’re making a Pinterest board with great word balloons and sound fxs to reference the stuff in this comic would definitely go in there. I am such a fan of hand-drawn sound fx! I love when I see it.

In conclusion, “All Eight Eyes” is a book that you don’t want to miss and you should definitely pick it up whenever you get a chance. Reading this for the first time, I am immediately engrossed by the story, and even at issue 3 I know exactly what this book is about and what I will be seeing in future issues. Books that allow you to jump in at any point in the story for me are masterpieces because it means that new fans can be garnered every time a new issue is released and they will be able to dive back and forward for years to come and still enjoy this story. The art is great, the coloring is outstanding and the lettering is amazing! Even the credit page is wonderful, and that cover with the head and the spider legs is phenomenal! I also really enjoyed what they did with the end pages of having it be a page from Vinny’s journal because, in two short pages, you get several entries that add more lore to the world of the comic and allow you to further connect with the characters. That kind of stuff is fantastic and should be done more. This is a no-nonsense type of book, there’s no frills or extra noise. It’s all about the story and everything inside the 30 pages is working in tandem to immerse you into a world where giant spiders are real and the government is trying to keep them a reader. In this world, someone has to deal with the pest and Vinny is the guy to do it.

Writing: 5 Stars
Art: 5 Stars
Colors: 5 Stars

Overall: 5 Stars

Writing by; Steve Foxe
Illustrated by; Piotr Kowalski

Coloring by; Brad Simpson
Lettering by; Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover art by; Piotr Kowalski & Brad Simpson

Variant Cover by; David Romero

Published by Dark Horse Comics

Reviewed by Antonio “Mabs”