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One day, all of the animals started talking. Started thinking. And they rose up. And made humanity bleed. That's the high concept that drives Animosity, an AfterShock Comic by Marguerite Bennett, Rafael de Latorre, and Rob Schwager.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

What would you do if tomorrow your dog came to you and told you what happens in your house while you're gone? If a sparrow remembered you chasing it off with a stick? If your cat said it was sick of all that trash food you kept feeding it? She just wants to hunt! Hunt you.

Animosity takes place in the aftermath of the rise of the animals --- after they took over the world and began rebuilding civilization as they saw fit. The world is now... different. It's not necessarily better, it's not necessarily worse. But human beings aren't at the top of the food chain. While many animals carry no ill will towards humans, some want to kill them all --- and understandably so. How bad do you feel about stepping on ants? Or all the rats that die in science experiments? How many pigs and cows have you eaten in your lifetime?

Enter a young girl named Jesse, and her hounddog named Sandor (yes, the pun is intentional). Sandor is attempting to ferry Jesse throughout this broken, hostile, sometimes horrifying world to the only family she has left, on the other side of America. To do this, he'll need to defend her from scavengers, the animilitary, and more. But he can do it. He's a good dog.

 

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AfterShock Comics
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WHO’S IT BY?

Marguerite Bennett is know for her work at DC and Marvel, perhaps most famously DC Comics Bombshells and Angela: Queen of Hel. She's co-writing the new Batwoman series, and her other AfterShock credits include the Victorian sex horror series Insexts.

Art comes from Rafael de Latorre, who is a relative newcomer; he also worked on the AfterShock series Superzero. The colorist is Rob Schwager, whose credits including Birds of Prey, Superman: American Alien, and Venom.

 

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AfterShock Comics
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WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL?

Bennett has a way of taking a silly concept and spinning it into gold. See DC's Bombshells. See Insexts or The Joker's Daughter. This is no different. Animosity takes the idea, "What if animals could talk?" --- a beautifully common trope in kid's entertainment --- and shoves it face first in the mud. It's hard, it hurts, and above all it's gorgeous, and entirely what we've come to expect from one of the most innovative young writers in the medium.

While we're overflowing with praise for Bennett, don't underestimate Latorre and Schwager. Latorre's art calls to mind talking animal cartoons filled with soft lines and adorable animals, and it's the perfect fit for this comic. Schwager strikes a delicate balance, ensuring the comic is neither overtly cartoony nor too gory.

 

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AfterShock Comics
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WHO SHOULD READ IT?

Definitely not children. While the art and the story --- a young girl travels with her hounddog to find her family! --- screams children's movie, the amount of blood and violence calls back to Eli Roth, though, granted, here none of it is wasted blood --- all of it has a purpose.

If you're an adult fan of fantasy novels or animated shows, check it out. If you've ever wondered what birds think as they fly over you, you'll find an answer here. (Spoiler: You won't like it.) If you have a child's mind, in a drawer of your desk, this is the book to read.

WHERE CAN I READ IT?

You can get Animosity at better comic book stores, and on Comixology. Volume 1 is on sale now.

 

 

 

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