Advance Review: Year Zero #1

Year Zero is one of the first offerings from AWA: Artists, Writers & Artisans a publisher that was started just a couple of years ago by Axel Alonso, Bill Jemas and Jonathan Miller. And I have to say that if all of the books are as good as this one, look out Big Two there’s a new kid on the block and he brought some friends! Seriously folks after reading this book I felt like this is the breath of fresh air the medium needs so desperately. There is an emphasis on storytelling that is conspicuously absent from many of the mainstream publishers who tend to put characters first. This is not a good idea no matter how iconic those characters may be, they are not above the narrative.

Year Zero is set at the onset of an apocalyptic scale event that a zombie virus seems to figure into rather largely. However, this is no Walking Dead rip-off, far from it. Benjamin Percy, writer of such big titles as Wolverine, Green Arrow and Nightwing, wastes no time pulling us into this multifaceted plot the showcases his stellar storytelling talents. Percy has so many plates spinning at once in setting up these diverse threads featuring various survivors in seemingly unrelated settings. The story opens with a Polar researcher before moving on to a Mexican street kid, then a Japanese hitman, a U.S. military aide in Afghanistan and finally a survivalist somewhere in middle America. These five characters are not only introduced and developed in a minimum of pages, but they are very human, we form opinions about them and begin to have feelings although we are not quite sure of our surroundings. This is fantastic writing my friends and while Percy leans into the horror element at times we don’t see a single zombie until the very end. In fact at various times Percy changes the tone to feel more like a Tom Clancy-like espionage story, then again he shifts to a Twilight Zone-inspired beat. He is the kind of writer that defies categorization, equally well versed in many genres and Year Zero is a perfect example of the kind of diversity he brings to this project.

Visually, artist Ramon Rosanas rises to the challenge and delivers one heck of a gorgeous comic book. His cinematic use of panels and his fast paced page designs speak to the urgency of Percy’s narrative perfectly. There is a beautiful realism to his work that heightens the drama of the narrative, his characters are poised on the very edge of action adding a tension that is electric. This book comes to life as you read each word and view each panel the images explode creating a kinetic work of art both visceral and sublime. Lee Loughridge’s colors are among the very best in the business and once you take a look at these pages you will understand why. Loughridge’s color choices are subtle, nuanced but nonetheless vibrant and alive. The hues, shades, tints and tones all work in concert to fully render a scene. So elegant and tasteful even when the subject is a rotting corpse in a perverse version of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Definitely twisted just right, I love it.

Overall, Year Zero is a fast paced well written story that balances the horror, action and dramatic elements like a finely orchestrated piece of music. There are crescendos of excitement as well as moments of human drama set against such a variety of backgrounds and environments. This is the rare book that actually has something for all tastes, a buffet of bombastic delights and dramatic delicacies, one might say, in fact I just did. So if you are getting a bit tired of the well worn, overly trodden path made by the usual suspects, take a look at what AWA has to offer with Year Zero, I think you will like what you see.

SCORE: 4.5/5

Writer- Benjamin Percy
Artist- Ramon Rosanas
Colors- Lee Loughridge
Letterer- Sal Cipriano

In Shops: Apr 01, 2020
Diamond Code: FEB201578