Untold #1
writer- Daniel Ferrand
artist- Johannes Vick
There are things our parents told us
that aren't exactly true. White lies; sometimes to spare our
feelings. Sometimes they're told to keep us safe. But sometimes
those little white lies are told because the truths are so horrible,
so terrifying, that we would be driven mad upon hearing them. And
sometimes they're even worse than that.
The Story:
Untold
is one of those stories. Creators Daniel Ferrand and Johannes
Vick have woven a tale of terror that feels like it could have
been handed down through the ages. A young woman, who has missed her
beloved grandfather for a decade, finally gets the strength to dig up
the truth of his whereabouts. For years she's asked, “Where is
grandpa? Why did he have to go away?” And the only answer she
would get was, “Your grandfather is a poorly man, but he loves
you very much.” If that answer sounds like a veiling of the
truth, you're thinking the same thing Alice did. Which is why she
went in search of her grandfather. What she found was a loving old
man in a creepy old hospital, with a dark secret all of his own; a
secret that might drive young Alice insane if it doesn't kill her
first.
The Project:
Writer, Daniel Ferrand and artist, Johannes Vick began
this Untold journey campaigning online through Kickstarter.
Untold is proof that hard work and the right amount of
charisma and public support, can really bring life to ideas. Of
course, these two gentlemen, who hail from the UK, give much thanks
to friends and family as well as their local comic shops for giving
them the right motivation to complete this project. Where that sort
of help is crucial when creating, these guys are way too modest.
Untold is a product of their hard work and their unique
vision, and it's success will come from them seeing that vision
through.
The Art:
The art in Untold
#1
is mostly black & white. Whether the guys ever intended to
colorize the story fully or not, Johannes Vick's art in stark b&w
with shocks of bright blood red from time to time, would bring
goosebumps to the back of any reader's neck. Each page causes uneasy
tension and often a certain gulping with nervousness with, at least,
every other panel. In fact, Vick frames each panel with the eye and
the style of an edgy independent horror film director. Some images
appear larger than life, in order to make the reader feel smaller and
more vulnerable to the terror they're reading, where other scenes
have an almost “fish-eyed lens” appearance, giving a surreal feel
to the action. So, without a doubt, Johannes Vick's sense of
perspective is incredible and obviously intentional. A refreshing
change to many of the mainstream comics on the market today.
The Writing:
In the opening notes of Untold
#1,
Ferrand thanks (amongst others) the people who picked up the book
without him having to repeatedly nag them. As he put it, “please
read my book, it's good... I promise.”
If you like horror comics, you already have a good reason to pick it
up. And if you like anything exhilarating and different from the
scads of titles already out there, read
his book, it's good... I promise.
As Vick's art style feels like a nightmarishly surreal horror fest,
Ferrand's writing serves as the creeping bones for the monstrous
Untold
skeleton, giving that art style a figure to dress. With much luck
and more hard work, Untold
will keep creeping around the dark corners of our minds and into our
comic libraries, with issue after issue after issue.
Want Your Own?
You can always get ahold of the Untold
crew on their The Untold Comic Facebook
page. Right now, the book is in a smattering of comic shops in the
UK, but I'm sure they'd love to hear how you want it in your comic
shop as well.
So
check out Untold
#1.
It's cool, it's creepy, it's disturbing, and it'll make you lose
sleep even if you're into horror. Oh, and while you're poking around
their neck of the woods, tell they guys Eblison sent you. We'll be
seeing y'all Outside
The Cube.
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