Review: Dead Letters #5

New threats have bubbled up in Here, as the gang war between Jones and Ma continues to rage on. Is it good?

Christopher Sebela and Chris Visions continue to flesh out more and more of the world of Here. They begin Dead Letters #5 by introducing the reader to the method of how new souls arrive and directly contrasting it to how Sam arrived in Here. Visions provides an excellent visual depiction of the process Sebela describes in a conversation between Sam and his new boss, Fante. The first panel adds a dash of extremely cynical comedy as a bus heading to “Look Out” closes in on an unsuspecting pedestrian. The mood shifts dramatically to extreme sadness as the recent victims of death are lined up with heads down-cast and shoulders slumped still experiencing their causes of death. Visions provides a graphic depiction of how people die and are transported and relocated to Here.

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Review: Dead Letters #2

Writer Chris Sebela shifts gear from the heart-pounding action of Dead Letters #1 to begin to shape the world of Here. The reader is exposed to a short history lesson of what Here is, how it was supposed to function, and how it all went wrong, mainly underestimating people and their ability for free will.

The history and world building create a nice flow for Sam’s new employment. He sets off investigating the disappearance of a woman named Beryl who was in deep with both of the major gangs led by Jones and Ma. Sam’s internal monologue once again steals the show as he dives into his work in an attempt to save his mind. Sam is not only distracting himself when he begins to follow Beryl’s footsteps through Here, but Sebela uses the opportunity to build up how society has changed when time is no longer the most important commodity. And maybe the most frightening aspect is Sam’s idea that it hasn’t really changed much at all. “Life ain’t fair. Turns out Death ain’t either.”

Beryl’s path eventually leads Sam to a club and her former husband. The setting is perfect for a nice shoot ‘em up sequence. Chris Visions’ art during the action sequence again is great; he includes the fine details of the shot glass being splattered by the bullets to the alcohol running off the bar into Sam’s hair. Jones’ big thug is especially terrifying in his red suit and yellow shirt with his evil smile screaming “I’m evil and I’m going to hurt you.” One of the best panels in the book is when Jones is recounting his life before he arrived in Here. Visions combines Sebela’s narrative with a fantastic visual of Jones’ past being shown in his sunglasses from the barn where he was raised to the tools he used.

Following the initial world-building process and an enjoyable action sequence, Sebela gets back to character development and discovering more of Sam’s hidden talents: specifically his resourcefulness, street smarts, and most importantly his talented tongue. Sam is a masterful politician playing Jones and Ma off each other as he continues to dig up more information about Beryl and what happened to her.

The ending of the book gets a little bit confusing attempting to follow the panels, although that might be because what is happening in the panels is chaos. At one point Sam slips away and appears to find what he has been looking for. Yet it is not clear exactly what he has found - whether he is peering into the past using an advanced relic or has actually found hard files. After finding the information, the story jumps to one of sheer terror and one thing is for sure Sam’s talents might not be able to get him out of the mess he has found himself in.

8.7	The book starts off a little slow as Sebela and Visions build the world of Here, but ramps up the action, mystery and sheer terror towards the end.

Review: Dead Letters #1

Combining the Bourne Identity with a mob war and mythological overtones gets you a fantastic comic in Dead Letters #1. Writer Christopher Sebela has the reader craving more from the very start. Our protagonist, Sam, has lost his memory and is plunged into the action-packed world of Dead Letters.

And is the world ever action-packed, Sebela moves straight into a chase scene with bullets flying, fast cars and adrenaline-fueled leaps of faith. All the while the reader is exposed to Sam’s thoughts as he attempts to make sense of the chaos around him. The most important part of the sequence is the reader’s ability to connect to Sam. He isn’t a caped hero, he is very human - and extremely resourceful.

Sebela does an excellent job of allowing the reader to connect with Sam by writing a majority of the book through Sam’s stream of thoughts. Certain situations allow him to recall how characters may react, other times objects may trigger specific memories. If Sebela hasn’t already hooked you with the almost non-stop action combined with Sam’s self-discovery, he adds a curve ball, which blows the story wide open.

Sebela’s story is so engrossing; one might even glance over the fantastic art by Chris Visions. His artistic style is gritty conveying a very tough world, although there are a couple of panels which convey the complete opposite and portray a more idyllic life where folks are washing their vehicles in the driveway or enjoying a meal at the local diner. Visions does a great job of capturing the style of the denizens. They wear varying degrees of attire from MIB-type suits and shades to a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. However, the bad guys are very distinctive. Their fashion is reminiscent of early 20th century, with stylish bowler hats, fancy cigarette holders, and fur coats. Meanwhile Sam wears a raggedy bluish-white t-shirt and bluish pants with bandages on his arms as if he was just released from the hospital. Visions with the help of Ruth Redmond’s colors reinforces Sebela’s writing and portrays Sam as the human he is. Redmond’s colors bring the comic to life and reinforce the mood Sebela has created.

One of the more interesting parts of the book is the type of paper they use. The texture is fantastic and helps add to the feel Sebela has created.

Dead Letters #1 introduces the reader to Sam and his action-packed adventure filled with mob warfare, backstabbing, an epic chase sequence and most importantly a mystery about not only who he is, but where he is.

9.5	Action and mystery combine for an epic opening act, which can only get better with the cliffhanger at the end.