This is a review of the soul-searching comic from Sourcepoint Press!
Comics exist to make us feel things. Creators, readers, first-time purchasers at your Local Comic Shop - We’ve all looked at, held onto, and read through a comic because it made us feel something!
Etheres, from Anas Abdulhak, Dennis Menheere, D.C. Hopkins, and edits by Michele Abounader, is no exception to the rule. In fact, Your Friendly Neighborhood Bi’s totally-not-fake dictionary categorizes Etheres as a prime example of one of the most poignant comics of the last 3 years!
If the name Anas Abdulhak sounds familiar, you’ve probably read my review of their debut comic Eleutheromania. I’ve dubbed it the best comic book debut I’ve ever read and still stand by it! Check out that review here in case you missed it!
Like Eleutheromania, Etheres is told through poetry and visuals rather than narration and visuals. Full disclosure, I LOVE poetry - despite how pretentious some strive to make the craft- however, if you are someone that isn’t into poetry, hear me out- THIS is the poetry you’ve been waiting for!
The poetry journey we go on is ardently emotive, often to the point of brutal resonance. In plain words: Etheres feels really fucking real. Passages such as “a hand severed, a vessel released, and a heart hungry; hymns and cries blurring the lies of reality’s gap” describe the painful realities many of us lived then, now, and will live in the future.
This isn’t a comic book you read with a long island iced tea at the beach; it’s one you read in your own room at 3am with your strongest drink of choice. By the time you finish, the sun will rise just in time for the end of this immaculate comic. (That doesn’t count as a spoiler, does it?)
Abdulhak’s poetry is beautifully woven and had me in absolute tears! Rarely do I ever cry with a comic book, and this is the first comic I cried at for one reason at the beginning and one entirely different reason at the end. Etheres makes it a challenge not to feel.
On top of Abdulhak’s words, Menheere’s art is a huge part of those tears.
If I recall correctly, this is Menheere’s debut comic, and my god I hope he is booked for life now! Etheres wouldn’t exist without Abdulhak’s words, but it wouldn’t flourish without Menheere’s art. The color palates he chooses consumes me as a reader; his lines and shapes are the perfect mixtures of the reality we know and the reality that can exist in one’s head. I cannot wait to see what his next project is - I know it will suck me right in!
And who could forget D.C. Hopkin’s magnificent letters or Michele Abounader’s brilliant editing? Never in my life would I have imagined lettering and editing to evoke such emotion from me, but here I am, amazed at how all of the pieces come together so easily in Etheres, and crying over how perfect the flow of the letters is on each page!
If you missed the most poignant comic of the last 3 years, if you’re feeling like something is missing in you and you’re in need of catharsis, never fear: Etheres is still available today! Pick up this masterpiece ASAP and get a copy from a friend- and maybe a hug too <3
Order ETHERES at Midtown Comics: Etheres #1 (One Shot) - Midtown Comics
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