White Sky #1 is written by William Harms and published by Image Comics. Artwork is by JP Mavinga, colours by Lee Loughridge and letters by Ed Dukeshire. Main cover art (left) is by JP Mavinga.
White Sky #1 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
Five years ago, the sky turned white, and the world ended. Violet and her father, David, are forced out of hiding and flee toward the ruins of San Francisco, where they believe they’ll be safe. But in this haunted world ruled by ghosts, no place is safe.
Review
Post-apocalyptic stories are nothing new in media nowadays. With the likes of The Road, I Am Legend and The Walking Dead, to name a few, it makes it harder for writers to bring any new ideas to this already rather saturated genre. However, with this new comic, White Sky, William Harms is putting that theory to the test by attempting a series best described as The Last of Us with ghosts instead of zombies.
The comic makes the simple but effective choice to lead with its visuals. Outside of the odd line here and there, the first eight or so pages rely solely on JP Mavinga’s brilliant artwork to drive the story forward. Because of this lack of dialogue, there’s an immediate sense of unease and dread that permeates every panel, making you, as the reader, question this desolate world and how it works. Are Violet and David so used to this hellscape that they have no words left, or are they keeping quiet purely for their own safety?
Mavinga, along with colourist Lee Loughridge, make exceptional use of blank space throughout this first issue. A lot of panels focus entirely on David, Violet and the landscape around, with the sky itself being left white for the majority of the issue, very much living up to the comic’s title. This once again leaves readers guessing as to how the world got like this in the first place.
Harms really comes into his own in the second half of the issue, where we see David and Violet take shelter and open up to each other. The exchange between them is equal parts endearing and emotional, establishing really quickly how strong their bond is and how much they need each other to survive. However, it’s in the closing pages where Harms cranks the tension to the max and stretches their dynamic as far as it will go. Due to the silence that took over the majority of this first issue, the violence that occurs over these final pages feels abruptly loud and aggressive in nature. Harms has meticulously tightened the suspense, letting it snap gloriously with a perfectly executed cliffhanger.
It’s very easy to compare this to other post-apocalyptic media that have come before, especially The Last of Us, in terms of the way these characters are designed and written. Thankfully, White Sky manages to carve its own path, riding a fine line between familiar story beats and fresh new concepts in a surprisingly consistent manner.
Verdict
White Sky cleverly takes elements of post-apocalyptic stories we’ve seen before, moulding them into something both familiar and refreshing in the process. This first issue gets things off to a thrilling start and leaves you on the edge of your seat in its closing moments.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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