Eventide #1 Review

Writer: Kimberly Gaines / Artist: Sean Dillion / GrubMachine Comics This time of the year always has me seeking out the scary, mysterious, suspense, thriller’s of anything and everything. From Stranger Things to surprisingly the new Star Trek Discovery and literally every Halloween special ever. No matter how corny as soon as the leaves change, I live for it. And to be honest, this season did not disappoint to offer me just what I need. I even saw that flick “Happy Death Day” on Halloween and thoroughly enjoyed myself. So when BNP editor sent Eventide a new supernatural themed comic my way, I was like… the planets align yet again! First off, I love a good ‘ol high school awkward adolescent story…when they are written well. Eventide is a great comic for the newcomer to comics like me and a lover of alien mystery. And for someone who avidly read Archie comics as a kid, I think a new age of high school story is in my realm. It starts off in a classic city setting – subway platform with a girl and a homeless man. We see her get approached and keep it pushing, but something else was lurking in the dark… We follow main character Connor, a youth on his average morning – skipping breakfast and headed to the bus. On the bus we meet his best friend Rosie, who seems like she is the one in the duo with a good head on her shoulders. This first issue really sets up the backstory for our protagonist and the environment he has endured in his life. The exposition was a little much for me in the beginning with the voice in his head telling all of his history and thoughts on his past and the peoplw in life now while walking to the bus. But as the story progressed, it gave me real Spiderman inner monologue vibes. The inner thoughts did help later on in establishing Connor as a unique character. We see more of this as the issue takes us closer to the dark figure that took the girl and how this may connect back to Connor. The style of the comic is right up my alley, I love the bold lines and cartoon like illustrations – it allows for clear action scenes and that young feel to really bring the theme home. As most beginnings go, we got set up to bring us into the world of Connor from crushes, bullies, school teachers and unfinished homework–OH, and some mysterious noises on the roof above Connor’s room at home… The characters are interestingly wrote with the jock trope as the bully and the main character as slacker at the bully’s mercy. As diversity goes, it’s nice to see brown characters taking a featured spot in the storyline and I am curious how these characters will push the envelope going forward. It really seems like they are setting up a journey for these characters that forces them to band together to overcome whatever danger may be coming. Although the backstory was abundant, the cliffhanger at the end really got me wanting to know what is really going on with Connor and what has befallen him?

 7 mysterious footprints on the roof out of 10

Looking forward to the next issue! See more about the comic, the creative team and more here. Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?