Hailstone #1

Hailstone #1

ComiXology Originals and Stout Club 2021

Created & Written by Rafael Scavone

Created & Illustrated by Rafael De Latorre

Coloured by Wesllei Manoel

Lettered by Bernardo Brice

On Jacob's Path

In the isolated Montana town of Hailstone, food is running low. Trapped in by relentless snow, the hungry and desperate townspeople come into conflict with the well-stocked military factory. And to make matters worse, a local girl -- Mary -- has just disappeared. Sheriff Denton Ross and his deputy Tobias step in to keep the peace, but their efforts start them down a dangerous path of investigation; into Mary's disappearance, the factory, and just what it is doing here in this isolated place, so far from the war.

I may be one who loves his physical copies of comics, for me there’ll never be a better feeling than holding it in my hand, but these originals from ComiXology sure do make me love the digital medium as well. Every story I’ve read has been by these amazing creators who have this opportunity to create something so breathtaking, captivating and mesmerising as they engage the reader and ignite their own creativity and imagination by the stories they read. This one is no different and quite honestly I think this may be my favourite one yet.

I love 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. I like that we don’t see what happens directly and that it’s implied so that the readers mind becomes engaged in the story which is phenomenal. The character development we see is amazing and as we see the dialogue, character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter do wonders in fleshing out who they are. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the characters and this world we get swept up in it like Dorothy in that Tornado.

I really like how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and continue from some unforeseen events which conspire to once again engage the readers minds. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.

The interiors here are bloody gorgeous! The linework is exquisitely laid down and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work is utterly astonishing to see. That we see backgrounds utilised as we do is phenomenal as they not only enhance the moments but also provide wonderful depth perception, a sense of scale and that 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 masterful eye for storytelling. That faces, facial expressions and body language are done as well as they are furthers the characterisation in some marvellous ways. The colour work we see is beautifully rendered. How the various hues and tones within the colours are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show someone who understands how colour works. That and how we see the colour utilised to create movement by blurring it through the linework is freakin amazing work.

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This is one of those old world kind of western supernatural thriller that you just don’t expect to see anymore. That this is as unique as it gets and how the originality of what is presented is able to ignite this excitement and passion within the reader is a true testament to how well these creators can tell a story.