Untold (review)
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.
