Flesh of White #1 – Single Issue
Inverse Press
Writer: Erica J. Heflin
Penciler: Amanda Rachels
Reviewer: Derrick T. Crow
Summary: Set in Tanzania, Africa, the stage is set for a horror story concerning magic and monsters situated around a heavy topic not usually discussed actually raging in Africa: Albinism. When a witch doctor calls for the sacrifice of a child of white skin for nefarious purposes, Rehema must fight to protect her snow white child, and family, from destruction.
Review: I will say, one thing I wasn’t prepared for going into this story was how much ground was going to be covered in the first issue alone. In a day and age plagued by decompressed storytelling I’ve simply gotten used to not much happening in an issue, so something with events actually happening in a single installment I admit feel a bit unnatural. But I gather that’s a good thing, as I don’t think anything about this comic is supposed to feel natural. Overall, I enjoyed this opening issue, I was betting on anything dangerous actually happening being the cliffhanger of the book but no.
In this issue we get a mysterious foe with a hidden agenda, a town struck in fear of the unnatural child, a gruesome death, plenty of mysteries, a back story and a very interesting cliffhanger I didn’t see at all coming. That is a tremendous amount of story to cover. Now, with everything being said like that, I’m going to be awkward for a moment and say while I appreciated that we got so much in one issue and I hope that thread continues, I did find the pacing to be oddly adjusted to the events. While I can see why it was necessary, the backstory feature of the village elder felt shoved in there and out of place, even with the build up to it.
I quite like the eeriness of the behind the scenes aspect of the story. When it comes to villains some of my favorites are those that stay in the background and let stuff just happen due to their mere push of the dominoes. And I really hope this is what they’re setting up with the villain, but if you’re aware of anything about witch doctors then the character bios at the end of the issue may spoil who the villain is for you. Not a big thing, as since we haven’t seen our villains face yet I could be in for a surprise but I’m not holding onto that.
I do hope Rehema becomes a more centralized character in the next issue moving forward, I think she will, she was just more of a background character than anything this issue. Though I will say, there is a tragedy that befalls her in this opening issue that really made me feel for her. She is a reserved woman, which is a nice character trait. It seems more plausible for a woman like her living in Africa than someone who is outspoken and bombastic. She’s caring and just wants to see her family safe. Her husband, Idi is a good husband who is loyal to his wife and son and will protect them and take care of them. It’s really nice to see a family unit in a comic that actually loves each other instead of biting each other’s heads off constantly to create drama and also shows that even in the jungles of Africa there are good people, real people that are nothing like what the media has come to make us believe. That’s actually one aspect about this story I liked, seeing characters willing to help each other, characters conflicted about what they should do concerning the child, and then those who are just outright evil that I’m curious exactly what their motives are (you can basically tell their motives in the character bio’s in the back, but I do hope in story we get an explanation).
On the art side of things, for the most part I’m really digging this art. It has that sort of raw, but slightly polished looked I like in the Planet Nestor comics. There are a few panels where I feel Rachels was being experimental in how the angle looked but came off as being too flat and uneven. Literally flat and uneven, but they don’t hinder the experience. They just look out of place. I do like her attention to detail to characters faces and designs, and the scenes featuring bloodbaths are really gruesome, as they should be. Unnerving even, she doesn’t want us to brush over those scenes, she wants us to stare at them for ages and take in what we just witnessed in great detail and she does a fine job and driving that home.
Flesh of White is shaping up to be an interesting horror series, as it doesn’t feel like true horror just yet; just an maturely themed story at the moment. I did enjoy this issue and I am looking forward to the next installment. Heflin has stated many occasions she’s wanted to bring up the subject of albinism to make people aware of it, as what we witness in these pages are a real problem in Africa right now. Stuff the media doesn’t tell us about. And for the most part, I think she gets the point across, as if she really did her homework on this one. For those of you who don’t know, albinism is a condition in people when their born with fairer skin than normal, even for white people, and can cause health problems in the future if not treated properly (it isn’t something you can get rid of, you just have to learn how to live with it).
Final Score: 3.5 Eerie-eyed snakes out of 5.
Editor's Note: To pick up your copy of Flesh of White #1, head on over to the Inverse Press website to find out how to do so!
Inverse Press
Writer: Erica J. Heflin
Penciler: Amanda Rachels
Reviewer: Derrick T. Crow
Summary: Set in Tanzania, Africa, the stage is set for a horror story concerning magic and monsters situated around a heavy topic not usually discussed actually raging in Africa: Albinism. When a witch doctor calls for the sacrifice of a child of white skin for nefarious purposes, Rehema must fight to protect her snow white child, and family, from destruction.
Review: I will say, one thing I wasn’t prepared for going into this story was how much ground was going to be covered in the first issue alone. In a day and age plagued by decompressed storytelling I’ve simply gotten used to not much happening in an issue, so something with events actually happening in a single installment I admit feel a bit unnatural. But I gather that’s a good thing, as I don’t think anything about this comic is supposed to feel natural. Overall, I enjoyed this opening issue, I was betting on anything dangerous actually happening being the cliffhanger of the book but no.
In this issue we get a mysterious foe with a hidden agenda, a town struck in fear of the unnatural child, a gruesome death, plenty of mysteries, a back story and a very interesting cliffhanger I didn’t see at all coming. That is a tremendous amount of story to cover. Now, with everything being said like that, I’m going to be awkward for a moment and say while I appreciated that we got so much in one issue and I hope that thread continues, I did find the pacing to be oddly adjusted to the events. While I can see why it was necessary, the backstory feature of the village elder felt shoved in there and out of place, even with the build up to it.
I quite like the eeriness of the behind the scenes aspect of the story. When it comes to villains some of my favorites are those that stay in the background and let stuff just happen due to their mere push of the dominoes. And I really hope this is what they’re setting up with the villain, but if you’re aware of anything about witch doctors then the character bios at the end of the issue may spoil who the villain is for you. Not a big thing, as since we haven’t seen our villains face yet I could be in for a surprise but I’m not holding onto that.
I do hope Rehema becomes a more centralized character in the next issue moving forward, I think she will, she was just more of a background character than anything this issue. Though I will say, there is a tragedy that befalls her in this opening issue that really made me feel for her. She is a reserved woman, which is a nice character trait. It seems more plausible for a woman like her living in Africa than someone who is outspoken and bombastic. She’s caring and just wants to see her family safe. Her husband, Idi is a good husband who is loyal to his wife and son and will protect them and take care of them. It’s really nice to see a family unit in a comic that actually loves each other instead of biting each other’s heads off constantly to create drama and also shows that even in the jungles of Africa there are good people, real people that are nothing like what the media has come to make us believe. That’s actually one aspect about this story I liked, seeing characters willing to help each other, characters conflicted about what they should do concerning the child, and then those who are just outright evil that I’m curious exactly what their motives are (you can basically tell their motives in the character bio’s in the back, but I do hope in story we get an explanation).
On the art side of things, for the most part I’m really digging this art. It has that sort of raw, but slightly polished looked I like in the Planet Nestor comics. There are a few panels where I feel Rachels was being experimental in how the angle looked but came off as being too flat and uneven. Literally flat and uneven, but they don’t hinder the experience. They just look out of place. I do like her attention to detail to characters faces and designs, and the scenes featuring bloodbaths are really gruesome, as they should be. Unnerving even, she doesn’t want us to brush over those scenes, she wants us to stare at them for ages and take in what we just witnessed in great detail and she does a fine job and driving that home.
Flesh of White is shaping up to be an interesting horror series, as it doesn’t feel like true horror just yet; just an maturely themed story at the moment. I did enjoy this issue and I am looking forward to the next installment. Heflin has stated many occasions she’s wanted to bring up the subject of albinism to make people aware of it, as what we witness in these pages are a real problem in Africa right now. Stuff the media doesn’t tell us about. And for the most part, I think she gets the point across, as if she really did her homework on this one. For those of you who don’t know, albinism is a condition in people when their born with fairer skin than normal, even for white people, and can cause health problems in the future if not treated properly (it isn’t something you can get rid of, you just have to learn how to live with it).
Final Score: 3.5 Eerie-eyed snakes out of 5.
Editor's Note: To pick up your copy of Flesh of White #1, head on over to the Inverse Press website to find out how to do so!