Inside Sara’s Mind

Long before comic books existed, poetry was (and always will be) a way to creatively express feelings and tell a story.

But what if these two mediums were combined?

What would a poem with illustrations look like? Even more importantly, what would it read like?

This is essentially the motif that Septagon Studios new comic, “Masks,” draws its inspiration from.

A “photographic” poem, the visuals presented here are absolutely beautiful and the written element is intriguing. But does that mean this book is winner? Not so fast. While you’ll want to read more once the first issue is over, the story is hard to follow. At times, it’s utterly confusing.

In issue one, the main character, Sara, is on a type of internal journey, which allows her to see the deaths and memories of other people. Even more interesting, she experiences them as if they are her own. On the trail of this “phantom” killer, the images inside her mind are as scary and chilling as the killer himself. A small glimpse into the series, issue one is chock full of suspense, as the disturbing images of dead bodies and blurry, scattered memories fuel the tale.

In spite of this, the tale isn’t as linear as previously described. At times, it’s difficult to tell who’s talking and even more of a challenge to understand the plot shifts. While we know that Sara isn’t a trustworthy narrator and we expect a kind of uncertainty when she begins to experience the life of someone else, there’s no real warning of the impending transitions and psyche changes. This  makes the plot tough to get into.

If these continuity issues are cleared up through the next few issues and a more intuitive and accessible plot is established or the current one refined a bit, “Masks,” which already boasts amazing visuals, will be a sleeper hit and worthy of your undivided attention.

At the same time, the whole purpose of the writing in this comic is to provide surreptitious ambiance to the lavish scene setting. Asking writer and creator Aaron Rintoul to tone down the poetry wouldn’t make much sense in the end.

Because of that, “Masks” may not be for everyone, but by the sheer power of its visuals alone, it’s an entertaining experiment that is far from forgettable.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

2 Comments

  1. Patrick,
    why not review the entire graphic novel not just the first 21 pages? I think it would have made more sense to you as the story really starts to unravel for the reader in the second and final part of the book. It also becomes less poetic with each chapter. :p

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