Comics
Review: ‘Sheltered’ #2
A riveting follow-up, “Sheltered” #2 continues to be a thrilling read that doesn’t know the meaning of “slow down.” Suspense hits its peak in this violent take on the war between parents and their angst-filled teenagers in the community of Safe Haven. In “Sheltered”, surviving the apocalypse means never trusting anyone over 20.
WRITTEN BY: Ed Brisson
ART BY: Johnnie Christmas
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: August 7, 2013
To protect their children from the dangers of the outside world, the parents took them to Safe Haven, a gated and isolated community. Safe Haven belongs to the like-minded “Preppers,” survivalists who are ready for the inevitable end of the world. Suddenly, the children changed and their minds snapped under pressure. The teenagers eventually turned against their parents, killing them one by one. After taking away the rest of the food, ammo, and guns, the teens have nothing else left to do but to get rid of the dead bodies. Who will Victoria ultimately choose to side with when a gun is pointed at her head?
Writer Ed Brisson explores a plausibly realistic and terrifying premise where children turn against their parents. The rebelliousness of youth is taken to the extreme as the adults are entirely wiped out from Safe Haven. Readers are slowly going to learn how the teens are going to get rid of evidence of their bloody massacre. In a world without adults, who is going to run the show from now on? Even though Lucas killed his parents, he’s forced to grow up and make even tougher decisions without them.
Brisson presents Victoria as a loner, someone who lived by her own rules and made her own decisions. But now, she is forced to conform to the will of a violent community. Victoria isn’t playing by Lucas’ rules and refuses to be a team player. But since the teens cold-heartedly murdered her father, what will the group do to an outsider like Victoria? Even though she is in the age range like everyone else, Victoria doesn’t want anything to do with them.
Co-creator and artist Johnnie Christmas captures a dreary atmosphere using the barren tress of the snowy setting. Trapped in the woods, Victoria has become stranded in a distant world that never felt like home. Because she is far away from the loud noises of the city, Victoria jumps when she hears the sounds of loud gunshots. Christmas then builds the suspense through the close-ups of the teen murderers, who are always on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Because the narrative takes place during a single night, Christmas plays around with shadows and the snowy surface. Because there is little electricity in the woods, the teens build a massive fire, which serves as their only light source. In the wide shot, the light from the fire bounces off the smooth surface of the snow. The teens recognize their loss of innocence when they see the blood of their parents on the snow.
“Sheltered” #2 picks up momentum and brings readers with a suspenseful thrill ride. As the story heads into “Lord of the Flies” territory, I can’t wait to see what happens in the third installment.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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