Charlamagne Tha God Present ILLUminati #1 // Review
They told Jackie’s sister that she died of a drug overdose. Heroin laced with fentanyl. They were calling it an accidental death. They said that she had been in the same room for three days without leaving. They told her all this over the phone in the same tone of voice that might be used to order a meal at a restaurant. There might be more to the story as she’s about to find out in Charlamagne Tha God Present ILLUminati #1. Writer Bryan Edward Hill opens a story penciled by Deny Cowan and inked by Bill Sienkiewicz. Color comes to the page courtesy of Marco Lesko.
Lilly has come to Los Angeles because of her sister. Her sister has died of a drug overdose and now she’s going to be there for her funeral. It’s not really a place where she wants to be. She warned her sister. Not there someone who wants to talk to Lully about how Jackie really died. Learning more will almost certainly force Lilly to be in L.A. a little bit longer. Learning more could also be pretty dangerous. As nice as it might be to put it all behind her, it’s kind of difficult to simply walk away from it all with Jackie’s ghost lingering around her...
Hill opens an intriguing murder/mystery story with shades of the supernatural that seems to be speaking to something more than a simple family drama. The themes that Hill is touching on in the first issue could lead in a lot of different directions that explore some very deep issues on fame, fortune and the American condition. There’s also the possibility of exploring race relations and the nature of the entertainment industry. The opening issue of the new series feels volatile with potential that could come shooting out at any direction. But y’know...that’s just the nature of a really good mystery.
Cowan’s style is a perfect match for Sienkiewicz’s. The dark moodiness of the atmosphere takes a slow dance beneath the weight of Hill’s script. There’s some absolutely gorgeous work being done by the color. Lesko has a sharp mastery of luminosity that serves the moodiness of the visuals quite well. There’s some incredibly deft work going on in an all-drama mystery that fuses itself to the page a slick stylishness. This isn’t a glossy, splashy red carpet sort of L.A. This is something far darker.
It’s easy to love a mystery at the end of its first chapter. There’s so much possibility for it to be so cool in so many different ways. Given the nature of mystery, things could go in a lot of different directions that could steer the story away from its true potential. Everything seems to be going in the right direction, though. And given the fact that Charlamagne Tha God is associating himself with this one on such a high-profile level, there’s a really good chance that this one is going to be worth the investment in the long-run.
