After the Fire
Written by Tom Waltz
Art by Guiu Vilanova
Colors by John Alderink
Color Assists by Arto Heino, Joel Bartlett, Krista Schuhman, Leanne Fitzpatrick, Ron Kieser, Tom Rollinger & William Jones
Letters by Amauri Osorio & Tom Waltz
Title Logo by Gerry Kissell
Edits by Chris Ryall
Cover by Pintu
IDW Publishing
Release Date: July 11, 2012
Cover Price: $7.99

Debuting as an original digital graphic novel, After the Fire is being released in July as a print comic, and you should be VERY happy about that. For this review, I’m NOT going to get into the print vs digital dicsussion, but I do think the book will get a lot more exposure on the racks of comic book stores, and that’s a very good thing, because it’s one heck of a read!

Writer Tom Waltz, who’s KILLING it with his awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series from IDW right now, writes a fantastic story of supernatural revenge, good vs evil, and just all-around awesomeness. This is a comic for people who love comics, and for people who would NEVER read a comic. Seriously, if you’re looking to get one of your friends into reading comics, THIS is the book that you’ll want to give them. It’s a truly unique comic, centering around a pair of cops who are hard-working, dedicated, upstanding officers (or so we think), who are the victims of a couple of corrupt officers in their department.

About a quarter of the way through the book is when things start taking some really fantastic twists, and they pretty much keep on coming right up until the end of the book. What Waltz really did well here, is lull the reader into thinking they know what’s going on, then turning the whole story on its ear. There’s some pretty big risk-taking story-wise in this book, but they all work out perfectly and the whole comic is one that you won’t want to put down once you pick it up.

OK, I’ll admit it, I have no idea who Guiu Vilanova is or what he’s done, but he’s someone to keep an eye on. His style is perfect for this book in every way possible. His page layouts are FANTASTIC! He makes some good use of full-page spreads, but only when necessary and he does a great job using almost empty panels for effect. These are beautifully laid-out pages, and they all flow seamlessly into one another. I really think that he is the perfect artist for this book. He’s got a gritty style, yet panels are clean when they need and should be. And there are some pages that feature some very nice looking supernatural happenings, and in these panels he changes his style just enough that you get the full effect of something different happening, but that it’s all in the same “world.” VERY nice looking comic here, folks.

All in all, this is one GREAT read! And not to repeat myself, but this is the perfect comic for anyone who you’re trying to get into reading comics. It’s mostly reality based, with some supernatural elements, but the biggest twists and turns come from the actual HUMAN side of the story. Pick up a couple, because you’ll want to give them as Christmas gifts. This is just one hell of an entertaining comic. It’s fresh, it’s different, it’ll appeal to everyone, and most importantly, it’s GOOD!!