Bennett & De Latorre's brilliant 'Animosity' continues to cut deep

By Brandy Dykhuizen. Our Week In Review sums up our weekly comic book coverage while taking time for a new review or two before it’s all over. This week: ‘Animosity’ #14 and ‘Delta 13’ #1.

Animosity #14

AfterShock Comics/$3.99

Written Marguerite Bennett.

Art by Rafael de Latorre.

Colors by Rob Schwager with Dee Cunniffe.

Letters by Marshall Dillon.

With a hound dog’s single-mindedness, Sandor is still in full pursuit of Jesse to save her from whatever awful future those wretched humans can cook up. He has no idea just how far away she is from him, but I doubt that knowledge would slow him down. She’s his child, and he will find her. Hell, this mission is probably the only thing keeping him alive at this point.

Animosity #14 opens with a fantastic dive into Sandor’s mind, illustrating his near-religious obsession with finding his girl and securing her safety before he dies. Rafael de Latorre creates a gorgeous collage laying out Sandor’s stream-of-conscious thoughts – all the enemies and challenges he’s had to face behind pictures of Jesse and Shannon, looking tired and disappointed. He’s walked through hell and back to ensure his people got the fighting chance they deserved, and he’ll do it all over again.

Animosity never shies away from the terrible, especially concerning how we treat each other, both humans and animals alike. This issue is no exception, concluding with a scene showing that, given a choice, the powerful will strip the defenses of those who threaten them and take free will away from those who hold the resources they need. The take-away from these books always cuts pretty darn deep.

This series far outshines any of the post-apocalyptic productions on TV, and the ending of this issue hinted at yet another engaging, albeit probably fairly hard to ingest, plot point. Marguerite Bennett has kept us on our toes with Animosity, and, lucky for us, she isn’t slowing down.

9 out of 10

Delta 13 #1

IDW Publishing/$3.99

Written by Steve Niles.

Art by Nat Jones.

Letters by Tom B. Long.

Somewhere out in the loneliest depths of space, an exploratory crew gathers data on unknown planets and asteroids. We’ll just assume that humans have screwed up their own planet enough at this point that they’re scrambling to find other resources a little more earnestly than billionaire playboys who shoot their SUVs off into the great beyond.

Delta 13 plods along with plenty of dialogue, but not much substance. While the characters are chatting with and directing each other throughout the issue, they don’t cover a lot of ground. We’re left with only a vague sense of their personalities and motivations, and an even fuzzier sense of the evils they will likely soon face.

Unfortunately, the art isn’t much of a saving grace. Some pages are super detailed, with beautifully rendered asteroid belts or clear and determined faces. Other times, it seems like entire people were popped in as afterthoughts. A blue-grey monochrome certainly highlights the monotony of space travel, but really doesn’t add anything to the overall feel of the book.

Delta 13 #1 does, however, set the stage for a potentially scary-as-all-hell space nightmare. They crew has landed in a completely unexpected environment, the mystery of which is enough to scare the bejeezus out of anyone. I’d like to learn a little more about what makes the characters tick before we see them thrown against some sort of adversary. Delta 13 has the potential to be thrilling, terrifying, hair-raising – all those things a good lost-in-space type of adventure should be. Let’s hope it gets there.

6 out of 10