Mann's World #3

Mann’s World #3

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by Victor Gischler

Illustrated by Niko Walter

Coloured by Snakebite Cortez

Lettered by Andworld Design

A weekend getaway on a resort planet goes south when four friends run afoul of the planet's working class. Stranded in the wilderness of a strange planet, surrounded by danger on all sides and relentlessly pursued by vengeful locals, they must test their bonds of friendship in order to survive.

What isn’t there to like about seeing a group of guys being hunted throughout an Island retreat? From the first issue we knew what we needed to about these guys and they were jerks no ifs ands or buts about it. So when they were ambushed and things started happening I found it hard to root for them. These distinct personalities that Victor has given each person is so whole and almost complete that its easy to understand how different and yet close to the same the men are. This has all the excitement of a feature length thriller though it’s much more intelligently written than your normal standard film fare.

I am really enjoying 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 exceptionally presented so that everything moves forward beautifully. I absolutely love the character development that we see here. I am extremely impressed with how well all of these characters are fleshed out. Whether it’s the dialogue we see or how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter are changing some and others seem to stagnate in who they are. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story it feels like the excitement never stops. There’s a definite feeling of an adrenaline rush that fits in perfectly with the story itself.

How we see this being structured is fantastic and with the layers within the story playing some major roles and while some end and new ones emerge it enhances the main arc. There is something about the way Victor is telling this story that has real passion, verve and zeal that comes from someone doing what they love. The way that we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is magnificently rendered.

The interiors here are absolutely astounding! The linework that we see with its varying weights and techniques that are being utilised to create such a high level of quality detail work is mind blowing. Faces and facial expressions along with body language really help to push the characterisation further. Because of the setting the book relies heavily on backgrounds and I adore that because not only do we see them enhance the moments but how they work within the composition of the panels bring us 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 remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely divine! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is demonstrative of an eye that understands how colour works. How light sources are utilised and how colour can take water from calm to rapids is brilliantly rendered.

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The creativity and imagination that we see within these page is fantastic. How we see the men in the traps laid for them is horrific and gory yet tasteful at the same time and that isn’t easy to do. This is something that tests the human limits to survive and what one will do to get out of it alive and it’s damn well rendered. Of all them it’s Vince I want to see survive this and that’s because of how well they’ve managed to get engaged and invested in this story.