Almost American #2

Almost American #2

Aftershock Comics 2021

Written by Ron Marz

Illustrated by Marco Castiello

Coloured by Flavio Dispenza

Lettered by Rus Wooton

Based on the real-life story of intelligence operative Jan Neumann, who fled his native Russia and found himself marooned along with his wife in America.

As the Neumanns adjust to being strangers in a strange land, trying to work with the FBI and CIA, a mysterious man from their past begins a deadly hunt for them.

Because this is based off of real events it is what I would consider a slow burn, intellectually it’s a great powerhouse but the action is a bit lacking and that’s more than okay because really this is about the lives of two people. So the background information that we learn about them, what their jobs were and how they ended up coming to America to seek Asylum in the first place is going to take some time, they’ve got to earn the trust of the American agencies after all and once someone is sent to kill them well then the action will start and they’ll be seen as genuine assets. In the meantime it’s all about jumping through hoops and that’s not as fun as one might expect to see, but for me this is just laying the groundwork and I’m already vastly interested in learning more about them and why they left a cushy life to begin with.

I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does wonderful things for bringing their personalities out. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story it’s very easy to get caught up in their lives.

I’m enjoying how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. The great thing about the layers of course is their ability to open up new avenues and those that will be or won’t be explored all manage to add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

I love the interiors here. Sure they have a great classic comic book style feel to them but that’s elevated and the way we see faces and facial expressions are utterly fantastic. Seeing his Dedushka is phenomenal and with those blue eyes that pierce your soul well damn. The linework is strong, clean and crisp and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work that we see is completely astounding. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Alex in bed though heh I mean wowza. The way that we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments is beautifully rendered. They also work well within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts is astonishingly well done and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a dynamite eye for how colour works and how to maximise their effects.

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There may be some stereotypical moments throughout the book but overall that we get to see this process from start to finish, well hopefully through its finish, is something I am enjoying infinitely more than I was expecting to. Since Ron is writing this, that's truly saying something because I’ve been a fan of his for ages. The writing is exceptional and the characterisation is extraordinary while the interiors here are just bloody brilliant to see.