By d. emerson eddy — We're shifting genre again this week to coming-of-age urban fantasy. This is one of the things that I like about AfterShock Comics overall in that it seems to be a bastion for a vast array of genre work, including horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. All of them get a good showing from the publisher. Blending legacy heroics and fantastical monsters is The Lollipop Kids from Adam Glass, Aidan Glass, Diego Yapur, DC Alonso, and Sal Cipriano.

What will probably strike you immediately, even before getting into the very nicely layered story, is just the beautiful appearance of the art from Diego Yapur and DC Alonso. The art is simply gorgeous. Yapur has a highly detailed, rather realistic style that reminds me of artists like Farel Dalrymple and Max Fiumara mixed with Tomas Giorello, giving an incredible tone to his shading and depth to the world. What's more, and critically important to the story, Yapur's kids look like kids. I know that may seem like something superfluous or strange to point out, but often in comics we get kids that just look like strange, short adults. It's refreshing to see an artist who can actually draw kids, and draw them well. It's all enhanced further by DC Alonso's rich and bountiful colors. They enhance the depth of the line art and give a beauty to every page, making Central Park truly feel like a place of magic.

And that magic is part of the joy of the story and setting. The tale taps into that sense of wonder during childhood, telling a story of a group of kids brought together in Central Park to protect the city from all of the monsters from fairy tales, legends, mythology, and more that are otherwise kept imprisoned at the park. Sometimes they get loose, which adds to the sense of danger to the story. Our point of view into this world is Nick, a 14 year-old kid, who while looking for his missing sister finds out that he's a double legacy within the Lollipop Kids organization and is quickly ushered into a bizarre world that blends these monsters with New York City history.

Adam Glass uses a fairly elaborate, eloquent style for Nick's voice, giving us an interesting look into his character as he deals with the strange world that was hidden from him, but in plain sight, all of this time. It's kind of funny as it gets juxtaposed against the barbs and colloquialisms of the kids' dialogue itself. The narration, and all of the lettering, is given a nice sheen by Sal Cipriano, making headings fit the kind of magical nature of the story and delivering a unique balloon style for some of the creatures.

Overall, The Lollipop Kids by Glass, Glass, Yapur, Alonso, and Cipriano is a fun tale of a kid discovering a secret world he never knew about and being thrust into a role he was never prepared for. It blends family legacy with monsters and heroics in a unique and entertaining way that practically begs for more stories to be told in this world.

REVIEW: The Lollipop Kids from AfterShock Comics

The Lollipop Kids
Story: Adam Glass & Aidan Glass
Writer: Adam Glass
Artist: Diego Yapur
Colorist: DC Alonso
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
When immigrants came to the new world they didn’t only bring their hopes and dreams, they also brought their MONSTERS.
Years ago, early setters locked these monsters away in a secret prison deep in the woods of NEW AMSTERDAM so that they never would return to the Old World. Those woods have be-come CENTRAL PARK and now the monsters have escaped! NICK, 14, finds out that he’s a “lega-cy” to a secret society that for the last 400 years has kept these monsters in check – he and a ragtag group of kids just like him have to put the monsters back before they get out of the park and destroy the city.
Release Date: June 12, 2019
Price: $9.99
More Info: Lollipop Kids

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.