Eat the Rich #1

Eat the Rich #1

BOOM! Studios 2021

Written by Sarah Gailey

Illustrated by Pius Bak

Coloured by Roman Titov

Lettered by Cardinal Rae

What unspeakable horror eats away at the heart of Crestfall Bluffs?

With law school and her whole life ahead of her, Joey plans to summer with her boyfriend Astor in his seemingly perfect hometown of Crestfall Bluffs.

It's a chance to finally meet Astor's family and childhood friends, all while enjoying a vacation with every need attended to by servants.

But beneath the affluent perfection lies a dark, deadly rot... will Joey discover the truth before it's too late, and if she does, can she survive to tell the tale?

This is actually kind of refreshing, I mean it’s a different take on the subject that’s for sure and it adds this bit of mystery to it that really heightens the anxiety we see within Joey and Astor as it manifests itself. Because of the intensity of the writing and how it affects the reader, through how the characters themselves react, it has a profound impact. It seriously takes the reader on a journey through several mental health crises by various characters, including our two stars, which heightens every single thing that the reader experiences. It is almost a shared experience between character and reader and it’s shocking at how good this comes across.

I am super impressed with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely. The character development is extraordinary as seen through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, introducing the characters and the world they live in and holds absolutely nothing back.

I like how we see this being structured and how the layers begin to emerge and grow. I love these layers because they contain so much information, all of which Joey is wanting to learn though we find she is woefully unprepared for the brutal honesty of the information. What all this information does is add depth, dimension and complexity to the story that’s magnificent to see. The way that everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exquisitely.

The interiors here are pretty great. It has this whole vibe to it that reminds of you a mash-up of styles which creates a very distinct one all its own. I’m dying over Joey’s eyebrows, they are killing me softly and no not in a good way lol. Anyway, the linework is clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create all this detail work we see throughout is brilliantly rendered. The way we see backgrounds throughout the book enhance and expand the moments as well as work with 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 and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a brilliant eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a true understanding for how colour works and how to maximise its effects.

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This is unlike anything you will expect it to be and word of mouth has to have spread like wildfire because it’s already sold out. So contact your shop and see if they have any or make sure you order the series moving forward, and for a second printing. This really is worth every single moment of getting your hands on a copy. The writing and characterisation are extraordinary and the interiors are mind numbing in how they bring this to life.