Apparently, it always rains in Oregon. Which would seemingly make cloud emptying a more regular occurrence than it actually is.  Still, happen it does and Matt sees it in all its horrifying glory, flash freezing the local environment and solidifying anyone in the vicinity into a block of ice. Tragedy strikes Matt’s small neighbourhood, dragging him from obscurity into an even more scary situation. High school, girls and friends. But the images of what was seen stays with Matt throughout his young life, coalescing into a Mulder like obsession that will soon color everything he sees and threatens to take everything he loves.
Written by “The Devil you Know” creator/writer Frank Mula and Michael McCloskey, the story meanders through young Matt’s life, creating a character that despite some regularly seen tropes, the reader can feel a connection too. Indeed, the pair create a story that uses the familiar to lull the reader into a false sense of security before the curve balls start crossing home plate. The dialogue is well written, giving the majority of the characters a real feel to them, possibly with the exception of Mary. Still, this is Matt’s story and his fall into his mission and further fallings are enjoyable, contoured with the need to find out what the hell is happening.
The art is provided by Tyler Sowles who has a number of small press books under his belt and is surprisingly good for the most part. Starting with the good, there is some great work around the faces of all the characters. This is massively important on a book that has more talking panels than action scenes. Sowles puts a lot of effort into the characters reactions which help further drive the emotional aspect of the story. Sowles also helps himself by using a black and white color scheme, allowing him to use shadings to darken and already very grey world. Despite the strong facials, with the exception of Mary’s hair,  some of Sowles’ figure work can look a little flat at times, a better camera angle may help as would potentially resisting the need to show everything in a panel, which would let the reader’s eye fill in the blanks.
I was lucky enough to have sneak peak at this book a little while ago and as such I am pleased to see the finished article. Mula, McCloskey and Sowles have put together a story that is in part Perks of a Wallflower, with an X-Files vibe. Whilst this at first glance not feel like a fit, the talent that this trio possess helps make Fallstreak a very readable whole.
Writing – 4 Stars
Art -3.5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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