Written by Daniel Farrand
Cover and Interior Art by Johannes Vick
Cover Letters by Mike Adkins
Interior Letters by Erica Vick
When Farrand messaged me and asked for help with the Kickstarter to The Untold I was a bit skeptical because of the fact that horror isn’t really my favorite genre of comics but I would never turn someone down who asked for help. Long story short I checked out the first few pages and was more than intrigued, despite my preconceived dislike for horror. Not that I “dislike” horror, it’s just not my favorite, but The Untold has turned me into a fan of suspense horror.
The story is centered around a young girl whose grandfather was committed to a crazy house. I don’t want to get to far into why but I’m sure you can imagine that it’s because he likes to do creepy things. What I like most about Farrand’s writing style is the fact that he holds back the gore and lets the suspenseful and tense parts of the story really take hold. The horror factor is present and it’s certainly creepy but the suspense is thick and turns this read into a page turner. I did my best to go into The Untold with a fresh palate but the suspense factor was somewhat of a surprise, pleasant, but a surprise nonetheless. Although it caught me off guard it was done so well that I felt like the read was over right after it began and I feel like that is a sign of a positive reading experience as well as a sign of wonderful storytelling.
Any Good story is just a story until an artist brings it to life and what Vick has done with The Untold is nothing short of fantastic. When I got the first few pages for preview for the Kickstarter campaign it was the first page that made me step back and say “wow.” The first page is five panels stacked on top of each other and each panel is done with such detail that I had to stop and just admire the art before I even started to read. What I found so fascinating and disparate about the art was the way Vick incorporated such detail while only doing it in black and white. The detail is not just detail of characters, which is fantastic in itself, but the detail within the backgrounds and the way Vick lays out the panels and progresses the visual story is nothing short of fantastic.
Erica Vick’s lettering job is certainly solid but it’s the unique opportunity that The Untold gives for her to flex her skills. The majority of the dialog is done as normal but in certain instances and with a certain character the opportunity to step outside the box, or outside the balloon, is taken and done well enough to make the character different and strengthen up the character’s persona. The little things like this are what I enjoy most when watching indie creators work. I love what Erica Vick has done with this and I can’t wait to see how it progresses.
As of yet The Untold is just out of the creative phase but Farrand is working on getting it submitted to Comixology and finding other mediums for production so keep your eyes open and be on the lookout for The Untold!
