From Image Comics creative team writer Justin Jordan and artists Kyle Strahm and Felipe Sobreiro comes the post-apocalyptic horror series Spread. Check out my review of issue 9!
Ten years ago, we dug too deep and unleashed something we couldn’t control. Something that twisted and warped every living thing in its path. Something that remade the world in its own image. The Spread. One man has found a child who could save the world, but he has to fight monsters, raiders, cannibals, religious fanatics, and one cranky baby to do it.
The second issue in what is shaping up to be one of my favorite story arcs of 2015 is an action-packed and suspenseful showdown as No lies unconscious and bleeding to death. Not that he said much before, but issue 9 shows that this comic could probably survive as an ensemble piece with other strong characters to focus on. The big bellied cannibal Jack continues to be a surprise and his actions in this chapter build him to be even more complex than before.
I assumed he was a throwaway villain earlier on, then chaotic events led him from being an adversary to now a partner. In this issue he holds a feral child by the neck and threatens to snap him only to have his bluff called as he lets the kid go. There truly is far more to this giant brute. As the chapter comes to a close — you really start to get a sense of the world of Spread. Are there any heroes or ‘good’ people left? Or is the world filled with only bad guys who occasionally do decent things?
Most of this chapter flew by at a breakneck pace with an opening sequence involving the slavers and their homebase as they try to make a feral child do battle with a dog. We get a glimpse at a new foe here and I have a feeling he will be a force to be reckoned with later on. I loved the few pages of a bear in the forest doing battle with a flying monster of the spread as well – they looked amazing. Kyle Strahm and Felipe Sobreiro’s art continues to explode on the page and the cover for this chapter is a contender for my favorite front of 2015. I’m in love with that cover.
Justin Jordan’s violent and horrific post apocalyptic world of Spread continues to impress me. From surprisingly layered characters like Jack to the brutal and monstrous Spread, this comic series continues to hook me at every turn.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]