Advance Review: Fearscape #1

Once we have overcome our fears, be it spiders, ghosts or something worse, where do they go? Do they lie in wait for then next unsuspecting soul or do they live a life of abject failure, destined to be relegated to the quiet corners of the night?  This is the question that Ryan O’Sullivan is posing in this new creator owned book from Vault Comics.

Henry is a bit of pretentious sort, often over elaborating his perceptions of his rather insular world with an equally over inflating opinion of self worth.  A friend of a successful author, Henry is realistically living off charity in both his personal and professional life.  With Henry’s skewed perceptions quickly becoming his reality, he takes steps that brings The Muse into his life which leads him into the Fearscape.  Well, maybe not him exactly.

Ryan O’Sullivan is a quality writer; his Void Trip was a great little series.  Here, there is an element of self-awareness to the writing; an awareness that is used to discuss and comment on the reading experience and expectation.  Its a brave choice as if read in the wrong frame of mind, a reader could feel a little patronised to say the least.  In reality, its Henry’s monologue which goes someway to extol his less than noble virtues.  Through the journey we get to see the lengths Henry will go to to achieve what he feel is his right to have.  One of the strengths of the book is that we get to see Henry’s interactions with his not quite social group which serves as a contrast to what he thinks is going on, essentially letting the reader in on the secret.

The art is provided by Andrea Mutti, whose work I last saw on the Highlander series from IDW.  Free from the shackles of having to make characters look like actors, Mutti get to flex his artistic muscles.  Various locations are on show, from London, hospitals and of course the Fearscape itself.  With such a potentially ripe environment in play, it would be easy for Mutti to focus his energies on the latter part of the book.  Thankfully, Mutti realizes that in order for the contrast to work, that there needs to be some grounding in place.  Its a character driven book and the European style on show works well, with the facial elements showing the required ranges of emotion.  Throw in the gorgeous colors by Valdimir Popov  and you have a book that looks as great as it reads.  A quick mention too for cover artist Ariela Kristantina who provides a painted cover that while may not be immediately story representative, does show the level of quality all involved are aiming for.

The whole book feels and reads like a dark fairy tale.  Will Henry step up to the plate and be the hero that the Fearscape needs or will he live down to everyone’s expectations.  Whatever the outcome, this story is intriguing, with its flawed character who, through his own lens view of his life, may not even be aware that this is his journey or redemption, a chance to finally achieve everything that he feels he was destined to.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Ryan O’Sullivan
Art by; Andrea Mutti
Colors by; Vladimir Popov
Covers by; (A) Ariela Kristantina, (B) Andrea Mutti
Published by; Vault Comics

Fearscape #1 is scheduled to be released on September 26th.  Check the following order codes: –

Cover A (Ariela Kristantina) - JUL182286
Cover B (Andrea Mutti) - JUL182285