“Stronghold” #1 is a new series coming from creators Phil Hester and Ryan Kelly. The series follows a seemingly unexciting insurance adjuster as he learns that there is more to his life than it seems. Read on for our thoughts on AfterShock Comics’ brand-new series!
Written by Phil Hester
Illustrate by Ryan Kelly
Colored by Dee Cunniffe
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Our planet is actually a prison designed to both trap and shelter an amnesiac alien entity of incalculable power. Now known as Michael Grey, this cosmic angel of destruction currently believes himself to be an ordinary, midwestern insurance underwriter, who belongs to a global secret society dedicated to making sure he never discovers the truth about his past.
To make matters worse, our hero has fallen in love with Michael Grey. And for their love to be born, Earth must die.
“Stronghold” #1 comes with an interesting premise. What if there was a secret society, a religion, whose entire purpose was focused on keeping a super hero unaware of what he was? It’s interesting on a number of levels. How would be feel, to live in this Truman Show like world, where almost every aspect of your life is being observed and controlled? And on the flip side of that, what would it be like to be completely obsessed with one, seemingly ordinary mans life? How would it feel to be involved in this secret society focused on making sure one man remains ordinary, dedicating your whole life to making sure one man doesn’t reach his potential?
As a first issue, the thing that “Stronghold” #1 does best is leave the reader wanting to know the answers to these questions. The premise and how it follows through on that premise are interesting enough that this is a series that I want to succeed, that through the first couple of pages, I was actively hoping would come together. But, despite the ideas behind this series being strong, and a premise that I was almost entirely in the bag for, there are things about “Stronghold” #1 that just don’t quite work.
The best way I can exemplify the problems I had with this issue comes from a pretty minor detail. The issue opens with a 2nd person narration about the main character, about his powers and goals. This narration continues through the first 7 pages. Then it disappears from the book, only to be replaced by an entirely different style of narration toward the last few pages of the issue. This isn’t a huge problem by any means, but it does bring to bear one of the main issues with “Stronghold” #1. Many of the craft choices feel unconsidered. If it was going to end on a specific type of narration, why not continue that narration throughout the issue? It makes the issue feel disjointed and is a microcosm of the problems this story faces.
For one, the narration that ends the issue is overly explanatory. Instead of allowing the issue to end on the insanity that does end the issue, the narration over explains what happened, laying out in no uncertain terms the exact motivations and feelings of one of the main characters. Feelings and motivations that were already present in the issue, but if anything could have been strengthened through dialogue and interactions, rather than just an exposition dump at the end of the issue.
Exposition does not only come toward the end of the issue. It becomes a problem throughout, once the story moves passed the first scene. There is so much information crammed into this issue, and so much of it is unnecessary. You would think that the interesting thing about secret religious sects is that they are secretive and mysterious. But “Stronghold” #1 wants readers to know as much about them as possible. It’s something that runs counterintuitive to what I would assume are the main goals of the series. This exposition mostly just exposes how disjointed this issue is as a whole. The opening seven pages feel completely different from the rest of the book, and it was difficult to reconcile these two tones.
Ryan Kelly’s art is packed with details, making every panel in this issue feel claustrophobic, in a good way. Along with the detail in each panel, Kelly uses wide, colored panel borders throughout the issue, giving each panel a boxed in feeling that, for most of the issue, works extremely well. Like almost every other aspect of the book, it works best in the opening scene, where, along with the narration, we feel trapped inside the main characters head, with his thoughts and feelings in that moment hemming us in. Stylistically it works very well, a tense, tightly confined sequence that ends with an almost empty page. In the opening sequence, Kelly’s art feels like it fits the book perfectly.
Continued belowBut after this opening, things no longer cohere as seamlessly. There are moments where characters expressions don’t seem to match what they are saying. There is action that feels unnecessary and a bit stiff. Even things that work pretty well through out the issue have a few times when there are hiccups. Like I said above, Kelly uses wide panel boarders that are filled in with color. Dee Cunniffe fills these panel boards with a different color, depending on the scene. For almost the entire issue, it works well as an easy short hand for readers to see when the book has transitioned between scenes. But even this, which for most of the book is a consistently well-done technique, has a moment half way through the book where it is employed awkwardly in the middle of the page, making things confusing.
One part of the book that does work through out is Simon Bowland’s lettering. He goes for a pretty plain style for most of the issue, which works very well. And even when the book gets wordy, which it does for quite a bit of the issue, Bowland, is able to place the letters so that it never feels like art is being overwhelmed by the words, though it easily could be.
“Stronghold” #1 leaves me feeling mixed, more than anything else. There are some great aspects to it, the premise and the questions that it seems to be discussing. But there are also a number of places where things just don’t come together in a cohesive way. There are a number of places where the craft in this issue does not feel considered, where things don’t come together in a way that makes sense. And yet, despite all of that, there is still something about this issue that is intriguing. Hopefully in the following issues, some of these issues can be fixed, and “Stronghold” can focus in on what make this series so compelling.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – “Stronghold” #1 doesn’t entirely come together, but it’s strong premise hopefully foreshadow better things to come.
