Of the Earth #3 // Review
They’ve put the company man into bed in the attic. He’s not looking too good. His name’s Mr. Unsworth. He’s being looked-at by the guy from the company that Arlene called to come and investigate. He says Mr. Unsworth may be suffering from radiation sickness from whatever it is that’s coming-up out of the ground. Things are beginning to look a bit more bleak in Of the Earth #3. The writing team of Chris Condon and Andrew Ehrich continue their small town horror story with artist Charlie Adlard. The full reality of the horror facing the small ensemble is revealed just a bit more in another tense issue.
To make matters worse, Arlene’s grandma is beginning to get aggressive. She's not exactly verbal yet. Not actually saying anything. There's something that seems to have wrapped all of her from my family. I kind of animalistic tension. Something that seems to be equal parts fear and aggression. Arlene and the technician are going to have their hands full. Particularly when her grandmother decides to attack both of them in the kitchen. He may be able to hold her down, but he's going to need to have something to secure her rib. Some kind of rope. And they only rope that they’ve got is in the basement...
Condon and Ehrich cleverly craft a very intimate kind of horror with just a few characters in a small, rural house. The four characters directly involved in the conflict create a layered tension that is amplified when a monster reveals itself. I don't one level, this is basic horror storytelling 101. On another hand, it really is diving into basic elements of fear, aggression, and survival being a variety of different ways that all see white well articulated on the page. It may be kind of a superficial horror, but it's reaching for something deeper.
These four characters are rendered with shades of intricate, subtlety and emotional depth by Adlard. Beyond a lot of tight, close-ups and some rather sharp framing, the visuals in the series go a long way with shadows and dark lighting. To a certain degree so much of what's being brought to Pages being brought to the page through the negative space. It’s all filtering through the darkness around the edges of each panel. There's a lot of ink on the page, but the color companies it quite well in Moody tones that feel perfectly chosen for the specific time of day in which everything is occurring.
As the larger threat is revealed a little bit more, it can feel a little bit less tense. The characters know what they're up against. They revealed a little bit more about themselves. A little bit more about what they know. A lot of a mystery is lifting by the end of the third issue. The creative team is to make a really good job of holding the readers straight through the end of the third issue in spite of the lifting mystery.
