It was my honor to get a preview copy of the first issue of writer Adam Cheal’s new debut for his creator owned comic, The Toxic Storm. If you’re into dark, gory, revenge stories with a fantastic fantasy twist, then this is the book for you. Everything from the concept, writing and art is top notch. From the very first issue alone I became hooked to the premise. I’ve been telling comic fans for years that some of the best comic stories are available in the indie market. This is a great new series and I think comic fans in search for something fresh and new can’t do better than this series.
Here’s a little backstory on what the comic series is about. The first issue focuses on a man named Simon Fisher. We’re introduced to him living in a strange mysterious gas form in a mental institution. A group of doctors are trying to figure out just how be became the monster he is today. Simon soon recaps his life to a beautiful doctor who seems to be strangely attached to him. Simon tells her he’s a wrongly convicted rapist that happened to become prison roommates with a master of occult magic, Caleb Fontana. The two quickly become good friends that look out for each other. Caleb teaches Simon everything he knows about the black arts. After Fisher is charged with killing a fellow inmate he’s then charged with the death penalty. Being executed in the gas chamber was only the beginning. Simon uses the power of the occult magic to transform into deadly toxic gas. He soon embarks on a quest of revenge on all the people that wronged him over the years.
The great thing about Cheal’s writing is that fact that he makes a totally villainous character into an interesting and compelling person. He’s created a new character with very cool super powers. A villain made up of deadly gas. That’s just a cool idea in my opinion. How do you hide from a being made of gas? It’s a terrifying thought. It’s also a very visually cool character to boot. Speaking of visuals, the art by Renzo Rodriguez is one of the best surprises of the book. I’ve never seen his work before, but I have to say Adam was a lucky man to get such a great artist on his book. I’m pretty sure someone at Marvel or DC will soon snatch him away. Adam… I hope you have Renzo working on as many titles you can.
The colors by Mike Summers are wonderful, too. Jimbo Salgado is doing the covers for the book as well. I’ve been a fan of his work for years. Markosia Publishing has recently scooped up this title to publish it later this year, so keep an eye out for it soon. I personally can’t wait to read the other issues of this book. You should also keep a look out on future work of Adam Cheal as well. He’s a future superstar in the making and has a couple of future comic works in development. One is the anthology The British ShowCase and another called Slow Heart. Remember to pick up The Toxic Storm. You won’t regret it.
GRADE A
Follow Toxic Storm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/ToxicStormGN
There’s also the Toxic Storm website. www.toxicstorm.com
Find out more at www.Markosia.com
I've been looking forward to seeing Adam's work. Nice art pieces on this.
Looks great!
Thanks guys, production is really rocking right now and issue two will be ready for a comic booked.com exclusive first review in July! 🙂