Lemire and Walta unite. The creatives behind Sentient, and two of the best in the business bring us Mad Max via supernatural fantasy. But does Phantom Road work? Does the first issue lead off with a strong start?
Image Comics
Written By: Jeff Lemire
Art From: Gabriel Walta
Colors From: Jordie Bellaire
Release Date: March 1, 2022
Art
Pencils. Walta and there lines, there facial expressions, there landscapes. Walta is top notch. The issue starts out with a bang and ends on one. In between Walta and Bellaire (on colors) express our protagonist as an everyman. Dom is a truck driver with a past that through the art is sad. Through the art we get a quick sense about the world as well. More or less it’s a world not unlike the one we live in now. It’s not until the big twist towards the end that the horror and landscape changes for our character. Bellaire’s colours are muted throughout this first issue. Nothing stands out overly other than the craft of it all.
Story
Say What? Dom drives truck, stops at diner, is nice, is grumpy, drives truck. This all in the first 20 pages. First issue, it can be understandable that setting is more important than anything else. Once Dom comes in contact with the “twist” of the story, the action ramps up. But does the story do anything else but set things up? Not overly. If the first issue is the first few moments of a movie or the first episode of a season of TV, then the expectation should be enough to make us as viewers want to come back for more. With Phantom Road the first issue may not do enough for the casual fan to keep wanting to come back for more. If anything it will leave them scratching their heads.
Overall Enjoyment
If you pick up the first issue of Phantom Road from Lemire and Walta, know that you’ll have to be in for the long run. For good or for bad, the first issue is a lot of set up with not enough pay off.
Rating: 7.5/10