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Phantom Road #1
- Writer:
- Jeff Lemire
- Artist:
- Gabriel H. Walta
- Letterer:
- Steve Wands
- Cover Artist:
- Gabriel H. Walta
- Publisher:
- Image Comics
- Price:
- $3.99
- Release Date:
- 2023-03-01
- Colorist:
- Jordie Bellaire
Image Comics is about to release Phantom Road #1, a dark and surreal horror fantasy from the creative team behind TKO Studio's Eisner-winning series Sentient. Written by Jeff Lemire, drawn by Gabriel H. Walta, with colorist Jordie Bellaire and longtime collaborator Steve Wands providing lettering and design expertise, Phantom Road channels a particular strain of Americana that speaks to the grindhouse tradition in fresh and inventive ways, adding its own supernatural spin.
After Phantom Road #1 starts with a tense cold open that teases what is to come, Lemire and Walta dive into the life of Dom, a long-haul truck driver on a midnight run. Stuck in a rut and haunted by his troubled past, Dom comes across a car wreck with a single survivor -- Birdie. When Dom tries to investigate whatever she swerved to avoid, they are transported to a bizarre new world filled with unknown danger.
Lemire's writing is consistently strong, using Phantom Road #1 to provide a masterclass in solid exposition. Lemire does great work efficiently establishing the central characters. Both seem to fit cleanly into classic horror archetypes: Dom is gruff, practical, and scarred by his past, while Birdie is wide-eyed and nervous but not afraid to follow her instincts. Beyond the protagonists and their predictable starting points, the plot is surreal in a way that feels novel and inventive.
Walta's illustration gives Phantom Road #1 a sense of freshness and ingenuity, with a scratchy, stylized feel that gives the impression of an imperfect, thoroughly lived-in world. The depth of texture and dimension imbues both worlds with a harsh, grainy quality that amplifies the horror. The otherworldly monsters that Dom and Birdie encounter after their unexpected transportation are excellently designed. They are just humanoid enough to make all of their warped blankness truly disturbing, and the texture choices made in depicting their blood are fantastically eerie.
Bellaire's colors do great work in Phantom Road #1, constantly oscillating between dark, gritty tones and rich pops of color that accentuate the stark immediacy of the real world. This pallet stands in powerful contrast to the phantom world that Dom and Birdie find themselves in later in the comic, which is muted, unsaturated, and pale. The juxtaposition between the two halves of the comic wouldn't be nearly as impactful without Bellaire's incredible color, bridged by a stunning full-page spread composed of electrifying neon. Wands' letters have a uniquely solid feel, and the added emboldening and italics add excellent cadence and emphasis to the dialogue. The sound effects are well-executed, with lots of variation and effective onomatopoeia.
Phantom Road #1 presents a strong opening salvo for the series that will leave readers eager to delve deeper into its mysteries. Although the characters need to develop past their archetypical states, the quality of Lemire's writing indicates that they can do so in exciting and unexpected ways. It will be interesting to see how the enigmatic and elusive tone evolves as Dom and Birdie uncover more of their strange new world and the comic expands its lore and narrative.