All New Fathom #8 Review


Should fans bother with this one? Read on to find out.

The official description from Aspen:

As Vana’s plan nears its apocalyptic fruition, the temperature of the Earth’s oceans are plummeting and wreaking havoc with the ecological balance of the world. Nations are in turmoil, and their military might’s are helpless to stop it. Amidst this cataclysmic backdrop, only Aspen Matthews understands what must be done to return the world from the brink of certain doom, but in order to accomplish her goal, she must team up with Chance and KIllian in order to battle with the most powerful being on the planet– Killian’s daughter, Anika!

All New Fathom 8_Variant CoverThe creative team manages to craft a fitting comic book that brings the narrative journey began in Fathom: The Elite Saga to a somewhat close. And the pages leading us there managed to carry a fluid nature, which suited that progression, but to be frank when the end finally came it just happened in a way that felt rather abrupt.

Frank Mastromauro and David Wohl work together in a tale that shows the strength of Aspen and the worth of her allies. But more important, and perhaps unexpected to those that have not been following, is the attention paid to Killian and his broken family. Considering all the terrible things he’s done, it’s hard to get me to feel for their plight but the author managed to strike a cord with me. Through destruction, personal loss and current turmoil we see the final blows of Vana‘s war, and the results are absolutely engaging.

I have to say, based on this, that I’ve become a fan of Alex Konat. The illustrator from the start of the volume offered a detail display that carried the piece to new heights beyond the base of the written word. Each sequence is given attention as a barrage of consistent pencil strokes were further accentuated by digital inks by Mark Roslan and John Ercek. And when you add in the color scheme by Beth Sotelo here’s no doubt in my mind that the visual component is the chief reason to purchase this book.

All New Fathom #8 ends its time well enough, as we see our heroes take a stand in a ruined city but the final moment was rushed. Even so this still has more than enough positives going for it in order to earn a recommendation from me.

OUR RATING
7.5
  • + Engaging visuals.
  • + Aspen fights to victory.
  • + Its narrative was worthy.
  • - The ending was too abrupt...

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