MIDNIGHT VISTA #1
Writer: Eliot Rahal
Artist: Clara Meath
Colorist: Mark Englert
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Cover: Juan Doe
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Rating: 7/10
Lavender and peach skies dribble behind blue Albuquerque mountains as white noise statics on television in front of young Oliver. A woman in his home screams at the phone for child custody while the sounds of Wheel of Fortune alternate with static, local news, static. This flashbacks to 2002, Midnight Vista street.
The shadows of the night fill the room and the silhouette of middle-aged Nomar slowly appears as he talks to this seemingly nine-year-old kid. “Do you want to get some ice cream?” Instead, they settle for the starry, navy skies, pink Chevrolet, and luminous green market. The mood feels mysterious and vivid.
The next couple of pages look like how Kavinsky would sound yet smooth jazz plays, blaring at Nomar and Oliver in the car. These pages are very 80’s, minimal shapes fill the dark streets as lampposts illuminate the night. Cloud shapes muddle, green neon lights hitting their skin perfectly like next bait. You know someone is about to get abducted! ZzZzWRRRZzZ. Static.
Writer Eliot Rahal allows Clara Meath’s art and colors to fluoresce in these pages with minimal narration. The now-red car directly stops underneath the glaring, yellow lamp. BOOOM! POW! POW! Glasses break as Esposito’s letters yell at us in the silent neighborhood. They look up at the bright yellow light and they’re gone. WHOOOOOOOM. Midnight Vista.
Present day arrives and Meath gives us a different style of artwork of brown and baby blue textures, as the now-older Oliver stumbles naked in daylight before his Tarzan-long hair. He’s got huge, round eyes and appears surprisingly collected at the situation. “I swear to God if this is a prank, I’m gonna shoot your fucking dog!” My favorite style of Meath’s artwork is the saturated neon flashbacks of these extraterrestrials, double-splashed pink and red reminding me of a cooler Clockwork Orange aversion therapy. Either way is fresh. This is how brightly weird this book is! Midnight Vistaaa.