From writer Rick Remender and artist Paul Azaceta comes The Seasons, a surprisingly dark mystery about the Seasons sisters: Summer, Winter, Autumn, and Spring, and a deadly horror that seems to be striking major cities. With coloring by Matheus Lopes and letters by Rus Wooton, The Seasons #1 is visually striking and gripping from the first page. With colors that would make Yellow Submarine look muted, this first issue hits the ground running, establishing a horror chasing our plucky heroine, and a vibrant yet complex world affected by it.
Writing/Plot
Issue #1 of The Seasons is mostly divided into three segments. It begins with an interesting premise: A blight has affected some large metropolises across the globe and effectively cut off all communication with those cities. While we are not shown the true reason behind this, a strange figure is seen lurking in the wake of the disaster, as a news report by Autumn Seasons narrates the horrific scene. Then we cut to Spring, who the readers follow for the remainder of the issue as she chases a runaway letter, in a style very reminiscent of comics like The Adventures of Tintin.
This issue is an enjoyable ride along with Spring, although the story feels like a reverse sandwich, with the plot mostly being provided at the starting and ending pages. This however does not detriment the story overall, as Remender does a great job of stating just enough to keep the attention on the overall mystery. He makes Spring’s personality and nature clear from her quick interactions with the townspeople, and establishes the overall feel of the world around by employing a wise, “show, don’t tell” approach.
Art Direction
For the most part, horror comics tend to revel in the darkness, using bright colors sparingly and often to signify blood or gore. Yet, The Seasons shifts this by having the colors be dazzlingly bright and inviting. Similarly to how Pennywise was a clown so that children would feel safe and want to follow it, the colors here have the same effect, making the populace want to follow and chase their coming demise. Azaceta’s character designs work perfectly with Lopes’ coloring, as they don’t seem out of place or jarring. Lopes, however, actually uses neon color surprisingly sparingly on a re-read, which increases its impact on the incredible 2-page spread near the end of the comic.
Although the entire artistic team was on top of their game for this issue, letterer Rus Wooton’s work was especially of note. Every movement flows dynamically, as impact effects seamlessly blend into the action. Each hit, fall, jump, and drop looks impactful and stand out clearly to show their weight, but also blend in perfectly with the style set forward by the rest of the team. The vibrancy of color within each background noise and frame also often indicates their volume, which does wonders for allowing the reader to feel the action alongside Spring.
Verdict
The Seasons #1 is a great start to what is hopefully a long journey. There are many cards up in the air, three Seasons sisters to meet, a dark mystery to solve, and a world to explore. This first issue expertly sets all that up with an impressively limited dialogue and exposition. Whatever comes next, this artistic team has truly crafted something special here.
