AfterShock Review: Descendent, Knights Temporal, Midnight Vista, You Are Obsolete, Cold War
Reviews on the following Aftershock comics in the order I read them:
- Descendent (5)
- Knights Temporal (2-5)
- Midnight Vista (2)
- You Are Obsolete (2)
- Cold War (5)
Individual series information can be found here
Descendent
Issue: 5
Rating: 4/5 stars
From the start, we see the consequences of summoning demons (or demonesses(?)); of summoning evil. And we see the lengths people go to maintain even a semblance of power.
I feel scared for Sarah. But that is overpowered by just how awesome Joe is. Her breaking her thumb is BA.
The end makes me sad.
Knights Temporal
Issues: 2-5
Rating: 4/5 stars
I struggled with the rating because while it is a good arc overall, and the way the story is told with the flashbacks is a lot less confusing now that there is momentum (and backstory about the past), I am still so confused about some things that while there is potential for a 4.25 or 4.5 rating, the convoluted information in issues 2-4 makes me drop this to a 4.
Issue 2: Yup, this is some weird and crazy “time travel” piece as I noted in my first review, where Auguste de Riviere doesn’t seem to know of his past lives, even though he knows he doesn’t die. But at the end of 4, he asks himself what he has done and All The Confusion came crashing down on me.
The coloring is great though, and the scene/time changes are either more pronounced in these issues or I’m less confused by them now. They do make more sense though, especially since August is increasingly aware that he is in a new time and place with each one.
He and Jane Foole continue to seek the Sorcerer Gaspard.
That August doesn’t know how to research on a computer tickles me. He wants to look up his own name, and a woman named Kerri helps him (I would too for that money). Variations of his name crop up, and Jane is always at his side.
I found that the art changed when the creepers (my name for the monsters) came (sent by Gaspard), making it more surreal. I don’t know if that was intentional though, since other creeper scenes don’t seem like that.
Issue 3: I feel bad for Kerri getting dragged into all of this. And with the beginning, I felt like I missed something. I thought that Gaspard was the name for this August doppelganger but realized by Issue 4 that he was simply sent by Gaspard and he is indeed another version of August who has just decided to alter the path.
Kerri’s question is great--why IS Gaspard creating the Humunculi?
I like how Gaspard is also different in each era.
The paneling is very interesting (in a good way) when August seeks answers.
I’m not confused at the reveal at the end, but bloody confused at what is going on.
Issue 4: we learn why the sword doesn’t always come or always stay. And we somewhat understand why there are multiple versions of him (so...NOT the same person reincarnated, but sent to a different place)? OK so maybe we get the backstory, but I’m still confused.
August’s “masters” (who are who/what now?) never explained Jane’s role, and she’s all up for maintaining the secrets. The other August claims to know, which fits in with my initial misgivings of her, but it’s still convoluted.
Issue 5: What August has done is bring all of his selves to the current time, causing an unstable reality.
Holy cow at the shattered glass of reality.
The art and text are odd again with the monsters when August finds Gaspard. He truly is like the devil, destroying the world time and time again. I don’t like the comparison of him to God, but I also understand that perspective.
And August still seeks redemption.
Midnight Vista
Issue: 2
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
The aliens still have Nomar, who thinks Oliver’s been taken apart by the aliens. Since it’s young!Oliver...he might have been.
Oliver learns he’s an Unsolved Mystery; the real mystery at this point is where his mother is. He father on the other hand...is an utter jerk who signs away his parental rights. I understand his absolute uncertainty after so much time and the dissonance when Oliver was young, but it still angers me.
The aliens get a hold of the situation until the BA scene at the end.
So much better than the first issue!
You Are Obsolete
Issue: 2
Rating: 4/5 stars
Lyla learns the downside of having cameras everywhere. The kids especially communicate through their tech--some don’t even verbally speak. It’s creepy as all hello.
Martina is the head child and she reminds me of a more deceptive Wednesday Addams. She rules both the kids and the adults.
I like that Lyla recognizes that the story she will uncover is bound to be a dark and dangerous (and disturbing) one.
Cold War
Issue: 5
Rating: 1/5 stars
I forgot that I was “done” after the 4th one.
This one actually ties a bit together though, so it’s a higher rating than the past few issues.
The “severed head of a teenage girl in some discount robot body” says a lot. I think. Or it says nothing at all, like the rest of the series.
We learn of the cryonauts and that they need to go after terrorists.
- Descendent (5)
- Knights Temporal (2-5)
- Midnight Vista (2)
- You Are Obsolete (2)
- Cold War (5)
Individual series information can be found here
Descendent
Issue: 5
Rating: 4/5 stars
From the start, we see the consequences of summoning demons (or demonesses(?)); of summoning evil. And we see the lengths people go to maintain even a semblance of power.
I feel scared for Sarah. But that is overpowered by just how awesome Joe is. Her breaking her thumb is BA.
The end makes me sad.
Knights Temporal
Issues: 2-5
Rating: 4/5 stars
I struggled with the rating because while it is a good arc overall, and the way the story is told with the flashbacks is a lot less confusing now that there is momentum (and backstory about the past), I am still so confused about some things that while there is potential for a 4.25 or 4.5 rating, the convoluted information in issues 2-4 makes me drop this to a 4.
Issue 2: Yup, this is some weird and crazy “time travel” piece as I noted in my first review, where Auguste de Riviere doesn’t seem to know of his past lives, even though he knows he doesn’t die. But at the end of 4, he asks himself what he has done and All The Confusion came crashing down on me.
The coloring is great though, and the scene/time changes are either more pronounced in these issues or I’m less confused by them now. They do make more sense though, especially since August is increasingly aware that he is in a new time and place with each one.
He and Jane Foole continue to seek the Sorcerer Gaspard.
That August doesn’t know how to research on a computer tickles me. He wants to look up his own name, and a woman named Kerri helps him (I would too for that money). Variations of his name crop up, and Jane is always at his side.
I found that the art changed when the creepers (my name for the monsters) came (sent by Gaspard), making it more surreal. I don’t know if that was intentional though, since other creeper scenes don’t seem like that.
Issue 3: I feel bad for Kerri getting dragged into all of this. And with the beginning, I felt like I missed something. I thought that Gaspard was the name for this August doppelganger but realized by Issue 4 that he was simply sent by Gaspard and he is indeed another version of August who has just decided to alter the path.
Kerri’s question is great--why IS Gaspard creating the Humunculi?
I like how Gaspard is also different in each era.
The paneling is very interesting (in a good way) when August seeks answers.
I’m not confused at the reveal at the end, but bloody confused at what is going on.
Issue 4: we learn why the sword doesn’t always come or always stay. And we somewhat understand why there are multiple versions of him (so...NOT the same person reincarnated, but sent to a different place)? OK so maybe we get the backstory, but I’m still confused.
August’s “masters” (who are who/what now?) never explained Jane’s role, and she’s all up for maintaining the secrets. The other August claims to know, which fits in with my initial misgivings of her, but it’s still convoluted.
Issue 5: What August has done is bring all of his selves to the current time, causing an unstable reality.
Holy cow at the shattered glass of reality.
The art and text are odd again with the monsters when August finds Gaspard. He truly is like the devil, destroying the world time and time again. I don’t like the comparison of him to God, but I also understand that perspective.
And August still seeks redemption.
Midnight Vista
Issue: 2
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
The aliens still have Nomar, who thinks Oliver’s been taken apart by the aliens. Since it’s young!Oliver...he might have been.
Oliver learns he’s an Unsolved Mystery; the real mystery at this point is where his mother is. He father on the other hand...is an utter jerk who signs away his parental rights. I understand his absolute uncertainty after so much time and the dissonance when Oliver was young, but it still angers me.
The aliens get a hold of the situation until the BA scene at the end.
So much better than the first issue!
You Are Obsolete
Issue: 2
Rating: 4/5 stars
Lyla learns the downside of having cameras everywhere. The kids especially communicate through their tech--some don’t even verbally speak. It’s creepy as all hello.
Martina is the head child and she reminds me of a more deceptive Wednesday Addams. She rules both the kids and the adults.
I like that Lyla recognizes that the story she will uncover is bound to be a dark and dangerous (and disturbing) one.
Cold War
Issue: 5
Rating: 1/5 stars
I forgot that I was “done” after the 4th one.
This one actually ties a bit together though, so it’s a higher rating than the past few issues.
The “severed head of a teenage girl in some discount robot body” says a lot. I think. Or it says nothing at all, like the rest of the series.
We learn of the cryonauts and that they need to go after terrorists.