Story: Rafael Albuquerque & Mike Johnson
Writer: Mike Johnson
Artist/Colors: Rafael Albuquerque
Reviewer: Ray Willis

Have you ever awakened in a strange place?

I really didn’t know anything about this title at all but it piqued my interest to see. I checked out a few preview pages and it hits me, Rafael Albuquerque is doing the artwork and it’s a Dark Horse title as well. I got it, read it, and was surprised how good it was. It’s a team up between Rafael Albuquerque doing art and Mike Johnson doing the script about a guy name Joshua, a guy waking up with amnesia to figure out where he is and find the person he is searching for.

Mike Johnson does a great job in creating an interesting tale that doesn’t let you know whats going on right off the back but through little flashbacks before he goes on this trip to this place called the “Meld”. The flashback sequences are good, but brief, showcasing the world of Joshua before he goes into the machine that transports him to this place called the “Meld” leaving him with no memory. You get to see why Joshua is going there and his discussion with one of the scientists before he goes allows to us to see how he communicates with him. Also it’s smart the way he writes the symbol to communicate back. The meld itself is very apocalyptic which reminds me of Wasteland and Tank Girl with very strange creatures.

The art by Rafael Albuquerque is always amazing and plus he does colors as well. The art is gorgeous with the characters and environments. Some of the characters do look they come from American Vampire but its not a complaint at all. The creatures do look very good even though they’re only a few of them. The line work is also very good as well which seems a bit more round than sharp. Albuquerque uses only a few colors in the book which is green, blue, yellow, and red. Blue as the past before Josh embarks and land in the meld, yellow for the sky in the meld and word bubbles between some characters, green on the communicator, red for marks, blood, and roses. It’s a very interesting palette of colors when using only certain colors in this first issue but the colors represent much more.

I really found this issue being very good and not telling you what you want to know right off the bat, before giving you more info in later issues. Mike Johnson’s writing is very good here and gives just a taste before letting you get know the two different worlds. We don’t get to know a lot about the main character but there’s something there in his story. The art is very good as well along with the small color palette of colors given. The line-work is great and the characters look very good and the world of the past and meld look really interesting. I didn’t really find anything bad about this first issue but I cannot wait to read more.

5 out of 5 Melds