The Good
SHELTERED is a book that caught me off guard. Ed Brisson told the story of a sheltered community living in seclusion with the goal of remaining safe and independent should civilization collapse. Things took a big turn when a certain faction of the community turned on the other.
Throughout the first arc, we've seen Lucas, the self-appointed leader of the community struggle with trying to keep everyone on the same page. With the tension rising, everything is the verge of exploding. Last issue we saw a few individuals from the outside world come knocking on their front door and it's bound to cause huge problems. It feels like the story has taken a fast step forward as some big changes are on the horizon.
Johnnie Christmas' art continues to establish the feel of this comic world. To give some variation, we see quite a bit of the outside world as the story fills us in on some events leading up to the big confrontation.
The Bad
It's interesting to see the outside world but it adds an almost odd feeling to the issue. There's nothing wrong with a change of pace but we've mainly focused on the community and here we see a flashback, of sorts, involving others.
There are some big developments here. I know Brisson and Christmas have this all figured out but it feels like this was a big step to happen pretty early.
The Verdict
Have you been reading SHELTERED? Ed Brisson and Johnnie Christmas are delivering the goods with this series. We have the beginning of a new arc and things are about to take a huge turn. If you haven't read the first five issues, do yourself a huge favor and pick up the trade. This is a different sort of 'survival' story and there are so many different ways it could go.
