KISS: Phantom Obsession #3

KISS: Phantom Obsession #03

Dynamite Entertainment 2021

Written by Ian Edginton

Illustrated by Celor

Coloured by Valentina Pinto

Lettered by Troy Peteri

The band have found themselves wined, dined and detained by the genius Darius Cho! As Cho puts each member through the wringer, a new-found ally may be able to help the Masters of all things Rock and/or Roll get the upper hand on Cho and his army of pop-culture-inspired destruction!

I really think this story is pretty amazing as we’ve never really seen anyone try to quantify the powers that band has. Granted he’s trying to gauge the full extent of their abilities in order to steal them for his own nefarious scheme. Still what we are seeing here is something I’ve not seen before and I think Ian is doing a sensational job in exploring this aspect. As a story overall it works for a lot of situations and characters and I have to admit I'm surprised that we haven’t seen a story along these lines before but then again it’s an original idea and it’s fabulous! I’m pretty darn impressed with the way that this is being told and that this complex has so many worlds incorporated into it really takes this to a whole new level of creepy on par with The Umbrella Corporation.

I’m a huge fan of 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 that we see through the dialogue (there’s one line in particular that made me laugh out loud too), the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. This brings focus on their personalities which are never stagnant but always evolving. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we’re introduced to new dilemma’s and it’s keeping us on the edge of our seats.

I’m impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I’m also liking the way that we see the layers open up new avenues to be explored. While some of this comes in terms of different biospheres or bio-domes, others come in part due to how we see the boys and what they can do. All this adds some 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 are impeccably rendered.

I’m not as keen on the interiors here, they aren’t a style I would normally gravitate towards as for me it’s a bit too simple. That being said, there is some great creativity and imagination on display here and the linework is clean, crisp and sharp. The way backgrounds are utilised to enhance and expand the moments are well conceived and how they work 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 is handled extremely well. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a great understanding of how colour works. I’m particularly impressed with the pattern on Cho’s shirt.

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Whether you are a die-hard fan of the band, and let’s face it, everyone should be, or just a casual fan this is something that you should be reading. It’s got some solid storytelling and fantastic characterisation and animated style interiors that bring KISS to life are done exceedingly well.