Split : by John Rodrigues (aka Jar) and Mira Mortal
“Intended for a mature audience, SPLIT is a dark slice of life that follows a mother and her children in very serious trouble. It begins with a tragic event, and carries us through the after effects that ripple beyond the year that follows. The family has found a way to cope, but the sustained isolation seems to be doing more harm than good.”
Like the old episodes of The Twilight Zone or Night Gallery, Split digs at your soul and send shivers down your spine. The more I ponder this story, the more horrified and ultimately sad I realize it is.
Split is story about family struggling with tragedy, it’s that simple. the affect of that tragedy are what make the story what it is. This isn’t your “fun” comic book read, but you should put this in the same category as movies that win Best Picture at the Oscars. We watch them because they are compelling stories about the human condition, not popcorn rides.
Jar and Mira are storytellers that really use the comic book medium well. They know how and when dialog should be used, and when a picture can be worth a thousand words. They way the two are able to craft a panel adds more to the story than what some writers would take pages of text to accomplish.
Sorry to keep this review so short, but to write any more would give away too much of the story. I will say this, I read Split four times before I felt like I have absorbed every nuance contained in its pages.
Grade: A
Bottom Line: This is what you want out of an independent comic.
You can support Split’s Kickstarter page HERE!
