Like jilted lovers separated by chance and brought together again by fate, my beloved “Shutter” has returned to me. Read on to find out why you should definitely be reading “Shutter” if you aren’t already as it has only gotten better since we last saw it.
Written by Joe Keatinge
Illustrated by Leila del Duca
INDIANA JONES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY RETURNS IN AN ALLNEW STORY ARC! Kate Kristopher’s finally face-toface with the sibling she never knew about, who’s dead set on destroying what little Kate has left. Family rivalry was never so cataclysmic in the globe-trotting and mind-melting second arc of the comic book ROBERT KIRKMAN (THE WALKING DEAD) describes as “so completely and utterly new that it reminds you of the potential of this medium!” ALL THIS PLUS: say hello to SHUTTER’s new letterer, the legendary JOHN WORKMAN (Thor, Doom Patrol, Heavy Liquid) with his commemorative variant cover and a comprehensive career retrospective written by SHEA HENNUM!
I feel incredibly lucky that it was through getting the opportunity to do my advance review of “Shutter” #1 that I discovered Joe Keatinge and Leila del Duca’s weird and wonderful book. A book that soon became one of my fast favourites. And then, after six rather fantastic issues full of adventure and heart and breathtaking artwork and one of the best cliffhangers I’ve ever seen, it disappeared into the void, never to be seen again. Now, triumphantly, “Shutter” has returned and, boy, is it better than ever. With new letterer John Workman in tow, “Shutter” has dove headfirst into its second arc to bring even weirder, even funnier, and even more shocking moments to one of the best comics of 2014.
In case you missed that, I really like “Shutter”.
And yet, it’s hard for me to really put a finger on why I love “Shutter” so much. Is it because the inventiveness of the story and artwork and worldbuilding remind me of the first arc of “Saga” and the breath of fresh air that was as it blended sci-fi, fantasy and real, living, breathing characters? Possibly? Is it because Joe Keatinge is writing his little heart out to bring the aforementioned real, living, breathing characters to life in a story that balances humour, heart, action, violence and wonder? Could be. Or is it the fact that Leila del Duca and colourist Owen Gieni bring vibrant, stark life to Joe Keatinge’s writing with a world full of the fantastical and weird while feeling so utterly alive and real and grounded thanks to the characters that inhabit it? You know, laying it out like that, it’s probably a combination of all three that meld into a comic book that is, at it’s core, a superbly fun read, but is chock full of heart and soul from its creators.
This issue brings all those elements back to the fore as Keatinge and del Duca pick up from the killer cliffhanger of #6 with a bang. One of the rather minor complaints I had with “Shutter” during its initial arc, especially in its first few issues, was that the writing seemed rather slight. While the imaginative worldbuilding and del Duca’s left an immediate impression on me, Keatinge’s writing was a little slower to develop and felt a bit thin emotionally at first. I think a factor of that was that it was hard to tell who to care for and why in the early issues of “Shutter” as the reader is still trying to figure what the hell is happening and where or when the hell the story is taking place.
That’s a problem that seems to be alleviated here, though, as Kate Kristopher has really solidified herself as a lead character in the story with complex emotionality and motivations while the supporting cast of the book (both those immediately surrounding Kate like alarm clock cat and her brother, Chris, as well separate characters dotted throughout the world linked to Kate’s story) has really fleshed out the world ad given the writing a firm ground to stand on. This escalation in the scale of the story and the cast throughout “Shutter” so far has allowed this issue to feel like an epic return as a death-defying escape from a giant skull dragon thing seems like a simple cold open in comparison to the rest of the issue.
Continued belowThis steady improvement in the writing from issue to issue is greatly helped by the fact that Leila del Duca is evolving as an artist from issue to issue and it’s very clear she is only getting better at her craft. Like, sure, her ability to craft a world with such a sense of fantastical unreality is still at the forefront of what makes her art on “Shutter” really special, but it’s the little details that she’s improved on, like her storytelling ability, that really brings it all together. A sequence that sits around the middlepoint of this issue that shows that off quite well is one where Kate and Chris are trapped in different rooms and there is something behind Kate. Joe Keatinge’s writing and John Workman’s lettering do a lot to build suspense here as the continued noise from behind Kate is rather unnerving the longer she doesn’t notice it, but this allows del Duca to focus her art on Kate’s emotions in, at first, her worry for Chris and then her relief and then sheer horror and then isolation. It’s a sequence that really shows off del Duca’s improvement in storytelling in terms of her use of characters’ visible emotions as well as simply blocking a scene and using impressions of camera angles to inform the tone of each panel. They’re all simple things that add up to show Leila del Duca’s continued improvement as an artist.
All in all, I cannot say I was disappointed by the return of “Shutter”. With #7, Keatinge and del Duca have improved on not only their personal skills as storytellers, but also upon almost every facet of the story they are telling on the page to bring even more heart and emotion to the writing and art. That’s a hard feat to pull off without making your previous work seem lacking in retrospect, but there’s a feeling of escalation in the series that allows for growth in the storytellers as the story grows more and more complex. And trust me when I say that it’s getting complex. That last page, oof. This has every bit the potential and deserves as much praise, in my book, as “Saga” did when it first appeared. That’s perhaps not the fairest comparison in the world, but in terms of comic books blending science fiction and fantasy with imaginative visuals and complex, emotional storytelling, I think “Shutter” is the new gold standard.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – Seriously, with the improvements this book has made in its absence, there’s genuinely no reason to be skipping this unless you just detest having fun.
