By Zack Quaintance — For a book determined to malign and dissect the very idea of sequels, A Dark Interlude #1 sure knows how to do a sequel right. Whether you want to call it a sequel or go along with narrator Henry Henry and shun the phrase, A Dark Interlude #1 is the first issue of a followup to Fearscape, which ranks as a singular and impossible-to-classify title within the diverse and excellent Vault Comics stable.

In late 2018, Fearscape #1 introduced us to two main concepts: the first was its narrator, Henry Henry, who was about as unreliable as a narrator can get. Henry Henry was an embodiment of pretentious literary insecurity and condescension in equal parts, brought to life by writer Ryan O’Sullivan’s uncanny captioning, which read like he’d taken his own most depraved and offensive thoughts about creativity and pushed them to an even darker place. Relentless and constant snobby preening made Henry Henry unreliable, combined as it was with eventual revelations about his own personal trauma and abuse. The other main concept in the book was the idea of the Fearscape itself. The Fearscape is a realm (beyond our own) where mankind’s greatest fears dwell. The impetus for the comic’s plot was a tradition: once per generation, a character called The Muse travels to Earth and finds The Storyteller (humanity’s greatest writer). The Storyteller must then battle the fears, lest they get free and destroy mankind. The Muse in the first issue picked Henry Henry, who it turned out was a fraud and a plagiarist. And our plot was off and moving.

Through the course of the first arc of the book, the latter notion sort of took a back seat in order to explore the narrator himself, which was an interesting choice and the right one, given the entertaining and poignant dark tragicomedy O’Sullivan and the other creators were spinning. Still, as the first series concluded, I did find myself wanting more of The Fearscape concept, wondering what the comic would look like if the narrative hadn’t so deliberately subverted expectations and had, in fact, gone on to show the battle as we were promised, or at least a modified version stemming from its string of interesting subversions.

All of this is a long-winded (perhaps Henry Henry-esque) way of noting that with this new first issue, A Dark Interlude seems to be charging forward into The Fearscape, with Henry Henry a bit sidelined, at least relative to the series’ past.

Don’t get me wrong, if you want more of Henry Henry’s droll creative slaughtering of low culture, critics, and even the audience itself — you’ll find it here (still hilariously at odds with what’s actually happening in the panels), but you’ll also find stretches where he backs off all together, where a newly-wider cast of characters interacts, where the story explores more of The Fearscape. And it works, it works really well. It works to make this not-a-sequel feel at once similar and evolved from the comics that came before it.

All of that is to say that as a fan of the first series, I enjoyed this issue quite a bit. I don’t think it quite stands on its own (although the issue does an excellent job of refreshing us on what happened in the last book), and that’s okay. All that means is folks interested in this comic now have the pleasure of going back and enjoying Fearscape. Which they absolutely should. In these comics, O’Sullivan and the team of artist Andrea Mutti and colorist Vladimir Popov continue to deliver a book unlike any other on the direct market, mixing all of O’Sullivan’s ideas with artwork that suits them perfectly, at once able to depict the fantastical in The Fearscape and the mundane in the publishing house board meeting scenes. The versatility of the team just cannot be understated.

Before wrapping up, there are a handful of other thoughts I wanted to touch on, starting with the book’s opening apology statement, which is a searing indictment of the non-apology apologies that we’ve seen from a number of figures (mostly men) called out for wrong doing. I also found a sense of great confidence throughout this book, one that makes me certain we’re in very strong narrative hands as we move forward. Finally, I think the driving force behind this book is still very much intact, despite some of the changes, and that remains wanting so badly for Henry Henry to shake off his bullshit and do something (anything!) admirable. I know that I want that badly as a reader, but logically, I also kind of hope we never quite get it.

Overall: A Dark Interlude charges forward into The Fearscape, with Henry Henry a bit sidelined relative to the series’ past. This adds up to a confident and intriguing follow-up (not a sequel!) to Vault’s literary ego sendup comic, one that is not to be missed. 9.5/10

A Dark Interlude #1

A Dark Interlude #1
Writer: Ryan O’Sullivan
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Vladimir Popov
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
After the stunning success of Fearscape, comes A Dark Interlude, the story of—No! The only offence to literature greater than the loathsome synopsis is the sequel. I will not stand idle while some poor excuse for an editor mangles and confuses my story, which is intact, perfect, and concluded, with this derivative drivel. Mark my words, this nonsense has nothing to do with my tale. I am not in it. I do not condone it. And you, dear reader, should not buy it. -HH
Release Date: November 11, 2020
Buy It Digitally: A Dark Interlude #1

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.