28 Days Later #8 (Boom! – Nelson / Shalvey)
The conclusion of “Bend in the Road!” Selena and Clint thought they had an easy task ahead of them, or easy enough in a world where The Infected are around every corner. But now they’ve found a nasty surprise, one that can spell doom for their friend Derrick!
So, you know what I love about this book? Ummmmmmmm…. Everything!
Okay, let me back track, I am a huge fan of story-driven horror plots. And for my buck, 28 Days Later was one of the best movies ever made that falls into that category. Earlier in 2009 when Boom! was going to adapt it to comic form, I wasn’t sure it would be able to keep all the factors that made the movie so great: the bottled-up pressure, the empathic fear that the viewers shared with the characters, the frantic pace that made us sweat in our seats and above all the story-driven (not gore-driven) plot. With his interpretation of the expanded “28 days” mythology, Michael Alan Nelson leaves the fan nothing to want.
I know when I start to talk about Nelson’s writing, I kinda gush – but it’s only because he consistently delivers above and beyond the reader’s expectations. With good characterization, a rock solid structured story, believable outcomes and a healthy dose of “run first, look second” mentality, Nelson has synthesized an environment that makes the reader’s mind alert and his pulse sprint. To help Nelson out is artist Declan Shalvey, who with every issue I like more and more. He pulls off a couple fantastic frames in this issue – one that stuck with me is having a single infected coming into the spotlight from the shadows and another is a long shot after Selena has thrown an infected out of the window and he lands on the brick road below. He does a superb job of capturing fear, anger and hopelessness in both facial features and body language.
Issue #8 does see the conclusion of the story arc and ends in what is a deep bond between protagonist Selena and shady survivalist leader Kate.
Issue Grade: A
Series Grade: solidified A
