Comic Review: Test #1

Test #1

Vault Comics

Writer: Christopher Sebela

Art: Jen Hickman & Harry Saxson

Aleph Null is an orphan who undergoes medical tests for a living and to support their addiction to futuristic gadgets. Aleph is a body-hacker and possesses various modifications and implants in their own body. Check out the review for Vault‘s new sci-fi thriller.

We pick up with Aleph hitchhiking to the middle of nowhere, which they consider “perfect”. Right off the bat, they seem a bit eccentric. Asking the trucker very personal questions, which really serve to reflect what sort of thoughts go through Aleph’s mind. Null proceeds on their quest to find a town called Laurelwood. A Midwestern town, which disappeared from maps suddenly and is allegedly test-marketing the future. The perfect place for a future junkie to live.

Sebela’s work is solid. Despite never reading any of his writing it is quickly noticeable that he’s familiarized with the comic book medium. Keeping most of the storytelling to inner dialogues (or dialogues with a sort of personal assistant) and to flashbacks, Sebela exposes a lot of initial elements to the story but does so in a regular pace and with style. The exposition is mostly focused on Aleph’s past and what took them to this point of the story. Aleph’s comments on Laurelwood itself work as an introduction to the legend of the town but not necessarily to what it actually is, as shown in the final panel of this first issue.

This issue alone shows a lot of Jen Hickman’s abilities and art style containing a large variety of backgrounds which aren’t overworked but aren’t dead either. They reflect the importance of what’s in the panel to Aleph, giving the reading great sense of immersion, especially in the establishing panel for Laurelwood. Complementing such variety, it’s incredible what Saxson’s color work does for this comic. This has to be the best tone setting through color I’ve seen this year so far. The colors are used to give the reader a sensation of extreme heat, soothing cold, comfort and a lot more.

The characters’ facial expressions are on point, very important in this kind of conspiracy mystery type of story. Aleph’s reaction and faces either show exactly what they’re feeling or complements their thoughts beautifully, displaying the reader with a complex character full of personality

Test‘s first issue puts in a motion a new sci-fi story which should involve conspiracy, futuristic paraphernalia and fight off against establishment rules in an interesting remix of many familiar elements by a talented team.