Matt Lowder Looks At Some December 2020 AFTERSHOCK Titles

Guest Reviews by RUN THE COMICS 5K's MATT LOWDER

December 2020 Aftershock releases

Piecemeal prestige extra-large sized one-shot 3.5 Stars out of a possible 5
Disaster Inc #5 of 5 3 Stars out of a possible 5
Lonely Receiver #4 of 5 2.5 Stars out of a possible 5

These are reactions more than reviews. I’m doing a more "review-like" post tonight for some new books I liked more. Man, I want to be a cheerleader for this publisher, but when you read so much, you're gonna hit speed bumps. I recognize I should be pickier about not reading everything, but I like supporting the publisher and store. Can't miss out! LOL.

So, in the second half of 2020, Aftershock didn’t stick as many landings with me as it did in the first half of the year. Several of their books have been so-so after strong first issues, which is sad after I sung their praises all Spring and Summer. (“Undone by Blood” was great though, and is coming back in 2021 -- https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/.../western-comic...) All publishers have hits and misses, so it's not really a big deal.

Disaster Inc started so strong. 

It was so compelling, but the plot and pace was unusual and I had trouble caring about the characters. The book ended with a special note of thanks from writer Joe Harris about the inspiration from the 2011 Fukushima Power Plant meltdown and beat the dead horse about rich first-world thrill-seekers who pay to visit places of great danger or tragedy typically off limits to civilians. It’s a great concept, not fully realized in these 5-issues. 3/5

Then there’s Piecemeal. Cullen Bunn continues to be very hit and miss with me. I always feel like I’m putting a target on my back because so many people love the guy. Underwhelmed is the nicest thing I can say. 

This was a 48-page treatment for a much grander story -- instead boiled down to its most barebones short story variation. It could have easily been printed in a typical dimension one-shot. Not sure I get the large size. It’s beautiful to look at.

Following the plot was a bit torturous, perhaps by design so the reader could feel specific feelings…. I don’t know. The actual story told here was suffocatingly thin and nihilistic. Nearly half of the pages didn’t take full advantage of this overwide prestige format. Most art was edge-to-edge, but too much traditional black gutter resides on many pages. 

The repetitive literary tool of using the same few voiceover lines in the first few and last few pages didn’t "punch" in the revelatory way I think the author intended. I can’t sleeve this comic, so I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. The color is perfect for the narrative tone. My expectations were very high for this. I swear I'm not trying to make enemies!! 3.5/5

Lonely Receiver is perhaps the biggest head-scratcher. It's worth mentioning the previous issues got 3.5s and 4s and 4.5s. 

What could have been an accessible but still unique tale for all kinds of readers about romance and loneliness and obsession with modern technology has de-evolved into a very abstract artistic naval-gaze into madness, S&M sex, and pages and pages of nudity, which may enhance this bold statement the author is trying to make as much as it hurts it. 

Half of the book is dozens of bodies, full frontal and backside male and female nudity, doing every position of the sex rainbow with dozens of partners, screaming, scratching, latex, and facemasks in a virtual/digital space. I’m no prude, and I want to respect the overall motifs and themes all five issues are bringing to light, but this was too much, and appears to show our main character fusing with an A.I. by the end of this chapter. 

It’s incredibly obtuse and metaphorical. It’s structured like a poem: very non-traditional and interpretational. I hope the final issue #5 ties it all together and we come back to some cohesive hypothesis statement about humanity, agency over one's own body, and technology's effect on our relationships, but I fear we’re destined for a deeper rabbit hole. 2.5/5