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Echoes #3 – Review

In the last issue Brian arrived at home to be questioned by a police detective (Neville) and then found a package addressed to him that contained a doll of the missing little girl’s remains. Brian begins freaking out and begins to think that he may have actually done it and killed the little girl like his father before him did. He decides after much battle with himself that he should call the officer that questioned him to turn himself in. When Neville finally answers the phone, Brain tells him that he remembered something that may help. The Officer asks to meet with him and Brian foolishly agrees.

Neville comes over to his house and they meet out back. He gives him a description of a make believe man and even Brian can’t believe his lies. He asks Neville for a cigarette, but for him not to tell his wife. Neville asks to meet him again this time by the school that he was scene watching the girl at. The next morning Brian meets at the school. Neville shows him a picture of a man that Brian surprisingly knows. The man’s name is Chris and he has brain damage from a car accident in high school. The detective makes Brian take him to Chris’ house.

Echoes 3 CoverOnce there Neville begins ripping into Chris’ mother and completely out of protocol he has Brian there with him. Brian can’t take it and breaks down saying he made a mistake and that it wasn’t Chris. Neville tells him to wait in the car while he finishes talking to the mother. In his car Brain goes to take his medication only to find that he’s out. His delusions hit him instantly as he sees the full size version of his father’s dead girl dolls come to life. Neville comes back to the car and the delusions come to a stop.  Neville explains that he’s trying to help Brian out, but that people get nervous when a case like this doesn’t close quickly. While he’s talking Brain is staring at the dead little girl in doll form sitting in the back seat they he may have killed.

This book is really freaking good! I’ll say my guess right now that Neville is either setting him up or he’s training him on his dead father’s behalf. Everything that Neville is doing is not only against protocol, but it’s shady as hell. He keeps Brian’s cigarette which is basically giving him his DNA to test. Then he makes Brian take his car to interrogate a suspect and other shady events occur that I can’t allow myself to ruin.

The writing is great and the story is unlike anything the world of comics has seen before. Joshua Hale Fialkov knows what he wants to do with this series and because of that the reader can sit back and enjoy his dark demented tale. Fialkov has crafted a great mystery that is not only very engulfing, but just plain good. I have my guess about the outcome of the book, but I could be totally wrong and that’s why it’s so much fun to read it… you don’t know how it’s going to turn out.

The black and white art remains one of the strongest storytelling elements of the book. The grey’s and blacks capture the story and the mood of the book just the way it should. The character design is also very realistic. Granted they look like comic character, but they’re not far off from resembling real people. Rahsoan Ekedal does a great job of being consistent throughout the book even when having to draw creepy dead girls in the middle of a conversation.

Top Cow and Minotaur are pumping this book out on time and thankfully so because I’d hate to wait long for this book. You may not only find a second print of the first issue, but it’s worth it to pick up the series to catch up. This book is a great read in single issues, but I can imagine that it’s going to sell quite well in trade paper back as well. “Echoes” is definitely in its own comic genre and that’s pretty cool for creative team to have managed that.

Overall Score - 9.5/10

Check out the review of the first issue to see what you’re missing.

 

Rating
9.5

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