Review: Fright Comics – Captives #1

What’s going on heroes? Today, we have a comic review on Captives #1 produced by Fright Comics. The series is written by Alexander Banchitta with Robert Ahmad penciling pages 1, 7-23. The inks for those pages were done by Dan Parsons. Whereas Vojislav Vasiljevic did the art for pages 2-7 along with the inside cover. The cover for this issue was done by Mike Dubisch. Finally, Fred D Stresing did the lettering.

 

To start off this may seem a bit different from what I usually read or review, but I enjoyed it. Captives is a story dealing with a two brothers who find themselves in a situation where they learn of a monster called Zardhe. Their goal is to free the princess that has been held in the castle for over 300 years. Now, Alexander does a great job making this first issue accessible for anyone to read. The age rating on Comixology is 17+, but the first issue was PG for everyone. However, I would have to see how the story goes before recommending it for children to read. I would suggest teenagers and of course adults can read this series with no problem.

 

Continuing with the story, we meet Robert and Simon, the brothers, who are our protagonists. Simon is the character that receives a majority of the focus in this issue. We see that he has an obsession with saving the princess, and Robert is there to assist him. I can see already that Simon’s fall will be his obsession over the princess. They are a few other characters, one telling Simon that he is a boy playing a man’s game, as Simon and Robert are preparing to run the labyrinth; where if they slay Zardhe they can be worthy to marry the princess.

 

Art wise, both artist do a spectacular job! Robert Ahmad pencils and Dan Parsons inks are flawless. One of the best things about Roberts pencils is how expressive he can be when it comes to doing character reactions. With Dan’s inks, they really fill out the page and present amazing depth. Throughout every page the way Robert and Dan control the viewers point of view is fantastic. Now, onto Vojislav Vasiljevic, his artwork was mostly used for the flashback material, but it works effectively. Going forward I do hope Vojislav is in charge of doing all the flashbacks. It really gave me, the reader, a clear cut of what is in the past, versus what is in the present/ future.

 

Fred D Stresing lettering is fantastic; it is easy to read, and flows well throughout the issue. I appreciated how he would bold certain words in word balloons to give that emphasis on what the character was saying. Finally, the cover by Mike Dubisch fit the tone the book is going for, so props to that.

 

Final thoughts, it is truly a solid first issue. It was a book I went into blind and I have come enjoy. The only thing I want more of is a better understanding of Simon and Robert. I understand why they want to save the princess, but I was hoping for more from their personalities outside of that. It leaves me certain that as long as the story goes on, we will see more of their character, and what drives them. Overall, I give Captives #1 “3 Heroes Out of 5!” I recommend checking this out. Now, one can pick up a copy over at Comixology. Just click Comixology and it will take everyone right to the comic’s page.

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2 Thoughts to “Review: Fright Comics – Captives #1”

  1. […] lead teenager Chris is playing an adventure game based on Banchitta’s and Ahmad’s comic Captives. Ahmad’s use of pink/ magenta to visually show the change in not just scenes, but depth of […]

  2. […] avid readers of Hero Club should recognize Alexander Banchitta due to our reviews on his books: Fright, Champions of the Earth, and Headless. Nevertheless, for those interested in supporting the […]

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