Midnight Western Theatre #2

Midnight Western Theatre #2

Scout Comics 2021

Written by Louis Southard

Illustrated by David Hahn

Coloured by Ryan Cody

Lettered by Buddy Beaudoin

Welcome back to the Midnight Western Theatre! Brace yourselves, for tonight's showcase is not for the faint of heart! Our hero, Ortensia Thomas, and her right hand man, Alexander Wortham, have journeyed into the middle of nowhere for reasons unknown. The only form of civilisation for miles is a lonely and peculiar church, but all is not as it seems! Find out if this house of God be their salvation or their doom in this new thrilling instalment!

Well this was certainly not what I was expecting to see and I’m a fan of when that happens. This is certainly weird and out there but i’m not sure how creepy or scary it is or if its supposed to be but I do know it’s extremely well told and in no way shape or form does this fit into the realm of normality. That this is so different and so unexpected is something that I can sink my teeth into and really appreciate. Also even if Vampires cannot go into churches something tells me that the actions taken here certainly deconsecrated the building long before Alexander sets foot into it.

I am 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 presented extremely well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter is incredibly solid stuff. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we find ourselves with a myriad of thoughts running through our minds.

I appreciate how we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. The layers contain the strong bits of characterisation, how we see the past and of course the bits that engage the reader the most. So if they work with the main arc or simply swirl around it what they do is add depth and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved extremely well.

The interiors here are really rather well done. The linework that we see with its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see is rendered extremely well. The distinct comic book style and the detail work in the backgrounds makes me a happy camper. How the backgrounds enhance the moments and work within the composition of the panels bringing us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificent. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a superb eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered as well. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a deft eye for how colour works.

While not all stories have a happy ending it is nice to know that someone like Daisy knew enough not to give in to these crazy folks who believe they are doing their lords work. Now who their lord is is beyond me but somehow I doubt it’s the capital G man upstairs. We open with a flashback to Ortensia as a young girl and we close with her carrying of a young girl, this kind of symmetry is poetic to a degree.

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Now I do wish this were much creepier than it is that’s my only wish for this series otherwise it’s a solid book with some great characters, strong smart writing and some downright charming interiors.