From the Alabama-based Inverse Press comes yet another comic successfully produced with the help of Kickstarter. Writer Kevin LaPorte and artist Amanda Rachels take Roberto Acosta‘s original idea for a story and turn it into the comic Eyes of the Hurricane. Set in 2004, as Hurricane Ivan bears down on the Gulf Coast, Acosta takes a leading role as a hummingbird that manages to survive even as the storm rages and takes him on an adventure of discovery greater than he could’ve imagined.
It’s September 16, 2004, and Hurricane Ivan is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. In a sudden calm, Roberto Acosta steps outside to see a lone hummingbird braving, and somehow surviving, the brutal winds and rain. Following the bird into the woods, Acosta finds a group of tiny people seeking shelter from the storm and brings them back to his house. Once the storm is over, the tiny people, introduced as Dixicans, leave Acosta and go back to their homes in the forest, promising to send for him when they’re ready. Weeks later, Acosta finally gets their message and joins them again for a feast in his honor and sees sights greater than he could imagine.
The story touches on salvation and higher powers, which naturally takes a bit of a religion-infused approach. While I’m not a religious person, I can appreciate that many people associate these messages with religion and see the joy there. Acosta takes a seemingly inconsequential event, seeing a bird in a storm, and takes it to far reaches, infusing it with fantasy and wonder. The care that LaPorte and Rachels take in adapting the story, taking it from a story of Acosta’s to sequential art, ripe with pictures, is evident. LaPorte keeps the dialogue authentic and hopeful, making the reader feel that love that Roberto and the Dixicans experience. Rachels’ art works well for the story, portraying the more mundane aspects of Roberto’s life and the bit more fanciful images involving the Dixicans with equal ease.
Eyes of the Hurricane is a nice, sweet read that leaves the reader with good feelings and a bit of hope. Even amidst disaster, Acosta was able to find beauty and fantastical thoughts. Eyes of the Hurricane is soon to be available through the Comixology Submit platform or directly from Inverse Press through their online store.
Art: 9/10
Script: 8/10
Parental Concern: None
