Hailstone #4

Hailstone #4

ComiXology Originals presents A Stout Club Story 2021

Written by Rafael Scavone

Illustrated by Rafael De Latorre

Coloured by Wesllei Manoel

Lettered by Bernardo Brice

The Method

Horrified by the truth of what Captain Spencer is creating in the factory, Ross finds himself trapped, and facing his own grim fate.

This is one of those “practically perfect''. “In every way” to quote Mary Poppins, stories that come along and just knock you out with a single punch. Each issue is just that much stronger than the one before it and takes the story to a new level of awesome that you just didn’t know was humanly possible to achieve. This is sheer and utter brilliance and quite honestly should win a Harvey Award, Eisner and whatever other awards there might be. If this follows suit with other ComiXology Originals and becomes a trade paperback I’m going to need more than one copy because very quickly one will turn into a well worn reader copy. So please if you’ve aren’t a ComiXology reader then I urge you to give it a try with this story because I guarantee you that you will not be disappointed in the slightest and it will add another level of reading excitement to your weekly or monthly list.

I am in complete and total awe in how this story 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 perfectly presented. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character development as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they find themselves in. This does a magnificent job in bringing them to life and it’s done with such aplomb. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more admiration and respect I have for these creators.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificently rendered. How we see the avenues within the layers open up and either be explored or not but they add this insane 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 is impeccably achieved. The flow here is beyond expectations and has so many revelations that you feel slack jawed for way too long.

The interiors here are mindbogglingly brilliant to see. The attention to detail that comes from this strong, clean and crisp linework with its varying weights and techniques being utilised leaves me gobsmacked. I mean the creativity and imagination side-by-side with the period dress and uniforms it just feels so naturally perfect. The way that we see backgrounds could be better but the whole mood, tone and feel of the story we get through the composition of the panels with the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is beguiling. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is stunning. How we see the colours in the army uniforms while they are overlaid by the red tones of the lighting I mean it’s bloody brilliant.

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I was already hooked and each issue was just that much better than the one before and this one came along and it sank all my battleships, at once mind you. You know the story is almost over, one more issue if I’m not mistaken, and the climax that you think is happening is just a red herring for the real one that is to come. It’s bloody brilliant there’s no other way to say it. The writing, the characterisation and the interior artwork here are nothing short of sheer bloody brilliance from top to bottom, side to side.