Apama the Undiscovered Animal #11
Hero Tomorrow Comics 2010
Written, Coloured & Lettered by Ted Sikora
Written by Milo Miller
Illustrated by Benito Gallego
The curtain hasn't even opened on the Nothing Like Vaudeville horror show musical, but the reviews are already pouring in... and they'remurder! Don't miss part two of the strangest tale ever to grace the stage, screen, or comics! Concluding the dramatic origin of the Tap Dance Killer, Sir Terror, and Fletcher! Apama might be lucky to just break a leg in this one!
Ya know I really really like this book and this company. There is this whole freshness to the way we are seeing this book done. It has all the right elements of a super hero book and as Ilyia has this crazy origin story that is still something of a mystery since he has no idea how it all originated, he's on the verge of unemployment, his last love interest didn't go very well and he's establishing quite the rogues gallery. Plus the character development and characterisation here is exceptional and it is filled with some great personal angst, a dark sense of humour and yet still there's this whole feeling of hope and brightness at the same time.
The way that this is structured is great as the pacing sets the tone for the ebb & flow for the story & plot development and the character development to weave through, around and in sync with one another. So while Ilyia is trying to impress Nikki by auditioning and landing the role of the freak in a stage play it is great to see how these two characters are meeting up for the first time. Nikki has her own title in Tap Dance Killer, again a stellar book you should be reading, but here things are not quite what they seem. This is before she managed to break free of this crazy programming that made her a criminal. So this odd couple pairing has the potential for all kinds crazy goodness .
I really am enjoying how bad it would seem Ilyia's luck runs. And his first foray into fighting the Tap Dance Killer shows his inexperience which is something else we rarely see. Though if it means getting to see him chat with his rat Liza then hey I'm okay with that!
The interiors here are really nice and they keep getting stronger with every issue. The linework here is sensational and how we see the varying weights utilised to create this wonderful attention to detail. Even with all that detail the fact that his mask or hood always has this same simple look is quite impressive. I think the way that we see the composition in the panels and how the backgrounds are being utilised is sensational. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective utilised throughout show a great eye for storytelling. I like the colour work here too. There is some great utilisation of colour blocking with various tones to showcase the shading from the light sources.
The way this issue ends is what brings us to the beginning of Nikki's solo book. Yet what I really liked about this issue isn't that it is how we see Ilyia growing as a person. Getting out of his normal routine and yes it ends badly for him but that's part of what happens when you get out of your comfort zone. Also Vica and her psychic Madame Parnavi and what they are discussing just deepens the mystery behind Ilyia and his powers.
This is one of the better outside the box thinking story's that you are going to find in comics today. You will find yourself engaged in the story and thinking about things that don't appear on the page, always a sign of a strong writer. The interiors are delightfully rendered and the overall vibe here mixes fun with your superhero antics.
