Greg Rucka and Toni Fejzula’s mystery of a woman with no history save her name and incredible powers starts to build as the Lovecraftian overtones come in to play to begin to shape this into an astonishing series.
Written by Greg Rucka
Illustrated by Toni Fejzula
When Veil’s only ally is ripped away from her, she’s left at the mercy of a mysterious and powerful enemy. Could this stranger know who Veil is? Why is he pursuing her? The truth is more terrifying than you can imagine.
“Veil” #1 was an issue that worked as a debut to a mystery by creating and showing a very sparse introduction to the story the series is telling and using that to hook the readers in. The introduction was Veil herself as Greg Rucka and Toni Fejzula created a very Alice (as in Wonderland) esque character who is charming and intriguing in her mystery of self. It was rather hard not to be taken in by that charm or the gothic and ominous mood surrounding her. Here, we’re three issues into the series and Rucka and Fejzula are slowly beginning to reveal a little more as to the world of “Veil” and that there was a lot more going on than we originally thought. While the true nature of the story and Veil herself is still surrounded in mystery, this is a build that really works due to the collaboration between Rucka and Fejzula.
While Rucka’s writing was rather intentionally sparse in the beginning to build the mystery of the series and showcase Toni Fejzula’s remarkable storytelling ability, things are beginning to develop nicely. Even though this issue is rather light on Veil herself, the fact that Rucka makes the equally mysterious antagonists so interesting completely makes up for it. By combining incredibly sinister corporate men with Lovecraft-style witchcraft, Rucka grounds the sense of fantasy in the story with a sense of realism that makes the introduction to demon-summoning altars feel surprisingly natural over the course of the story. Again, this story is built around the mystery of Veil and the circumstances of her appearance in the first issue and really until that is revealed in the story, the writing is largely only going to focus on revealing small bits of information at a time. However, Rucka’s writing plays right into Fejzula’s frankly amazing art to make this issue incredibly enjoyable.
Greg Rucka’s writing has not missed a step in three issues, but the real star of the show is Toni Fejzula. Fejzula’s artwork has some of the most simply brilliant storytelling I have ever seen in a comic. The stand out moment that makes that clear for this issue is the sequence where two rats fight. It’s a sequence entirely without dialogue and seems written with the sole intention of showcasing Fejzula’s art as he captures the brutal violence of the fight while making it almost serenely beautiful in a rather morbid way. It’s the kind of artwork that defines a series as it is rather hard to imagine this series without Fejzula’s artwork.
Each panel is so filled with atmosphere that it seems to create a world all of its own outside of the story he is creating with Rucka. The gothic tones created by the colouring and shading give the artwork an almost dreamlike quality that, matched with angular geometry thaqt Fejzula creates in his pencils creates a sort of baroque feeling to the artwork that feels entirely in line with the Lovecraftian theme created in the story. It’s simply fantastic artwork from an artist who really brings the best out of Greg Rucka’s already great writing.
The only real unfortunate aspect of this issue is simply that because the build up to the reveal of Veil’s nature is still in play, that means Rucka’s writing isn’t as overt in this issue. His writing takes a backseat to helping guide the world and the mystery with Fejzula through the latter’s art. That’s not a bad thing as, as mentioned, Fejzula’s art Is wonderful, but anyone expecting this to feel like a Greg Rucka a comic might be a bit surprised. However, maybe that’s for the better as this series feels like something completely fresh and new from Rucka.
While there’s still a while to go in terms of discovering the mystery of Veil, the quality of storytelling on display make this issue an enjoyable read as it brings more elements into the story to keep the fire of the mystery burning. That’s a fire that wouldn’t be burning without Toni Fejzula, mind you, as his artwork really steals the show and brings amazing depth to the writing of Greg Rucka by filling out the details of the world through the panels. Mixing that with almost unparalleled storytelling ability makes Fejzula an artist who many, many people should have their eye on right now.
Final Verdict: 7.3 – If you didn’t pick up this series when it started, now is the time to hunt down those first two issues and catch up.
