Review: Sheltered #15 (THE FINAL ISSUE)- Formulaic book, horrible ending

Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Johnnie Christmas
Publisher: Image Comics
Released: 11th March 2015


It was all random, and meaningless. The story was about the personalities involved, nothing else. The authorities were blameless. Any questioning of official narratives is being disrespectful of the dead. ‘Closure’ is all that matters. Let’s move on. Nothing to see here. End of story.

Does all of that sound familiar to you? It does to me. It’s the usual pattern that you see repeated in the mainstream media when anything involving the Police occurs. The message is clear. Trust in authority, don’t look, and don’t ask questions.

That’s the ending of Sheltered, well it should have been, but keep on reading to the final panel and you’ll get a twist that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  It comes across very badly, and I know that it’s going to upset a lot of readers.

So what happened? Why did writer Ed Brisson go with the final panel twist that negated everything else that he had previously written?

My guess is that he looked at the ending to his formulaic cult leader story, thought it was a bit dull, so went for the obvious twist in order to spice things up a bit. It didn’t work.

It failed because it was cheap, easy and unconvincing. It failed because it wasn’t properly thought out and was lacking in creativity. It failed because it was the kind of twist that you would expect to read in a child’s first story in a creative writing class.

So, what should he have done? Should he have gone with the dull ending? No, he should have written a better story that had more depth and more ideas, but he didn’t do that, so he was left with only two choices: 1- End it with the surviving characters looking sad. 2- End it with the predictable (yet unconvincing) twist.

He opted for the later, but it was his lack of creativity that forced him into this corner in the first place.

Ed Brisson can put a narrative together. He’s shown that in this book, but you have to ask yourself this question- Does the man have anything to say? My answer, after reading fifteen issues of Sheltered is NO. That sounds harsh, but that’s how I feel after investing all of my time and money in Sheltered.

I won’t be reading anything else from the pen of Ed Brisson. I gave him a chance, and he didn’t deliver. I’ll continue to look for new writers who have something to say, and I’ll continue to keep on writing for myself.

Sheltered turned out to be a very ordinary cult leader book with a desperately sad, tacked on ending. There was nothing new here, and after finishing it I'm left with the feeling that I put too much faith into something that never really delivered.

As I was reading the earlier issues of this book my mind was racing with the endless possibilities where the story could have gone. In the end it went nowhere. I assumed intelligence and creativity, and what I got in return was mainstream compliance, a lack of ideas, a painfully amateur ‘twist’ ending and a book that had absolutely nothing to say. I shouldn’t have wasted my time on this one. Oh well. You live, you learn, and you move on.

Rating for issue #15: 0/10
Rating for entire series: 2/10 (Interesting start, but gets very formulaic, and ends badly)

Comic review: Sheltered #14- Falling into the mainstream consensus

Story by: Ed Brisson
Art by: Johnnie Christmas
Publisher: Image Comics
Released: 11th February 2015


If that was the end then it had nothing.

Hang on. I’ll check.

No, it’s the penultimate issue, but why bother with another one?

Unless you have something, anything other than another cult story with a charismatic leader then why even bother?

Burn it down lads.

I say this about the final issue, and the entire series as a whole. I’ve been waiting for so long now, so long for this story to do something interesting. A twist, a turn, something, anything, and I’ve been so patient, so stupid really, buying the book month after month expecting something, and now I have one issue left, and I’m still stupidly hoping for this book to do something that makes it all worthwhile.

What do you reckon?

Issue #14 of Sheltered does what you would expect it to do. It does what happens at the end of EVERY cult story. No surprises, at all, no deeper meaning than cult baaaaaad, cult leader charismatic and baaaaaaad.

Is the government not a cult? Are the Police, army and major world religions not a cult?

Well, yes, but let’s not talk about it here. Let’s pretend that the biggest cult problem we have in the world today is preppers and right wing gun ‘nuts.'

And so nothing is learnt. The status quo consensus that is slavery to statism is maintained. No questioning. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Don’t you think it would be funny that if in issue #15 of Sheltered it turns out that not everything was as it appeared, and that this formulaic cult story had something to say, and it was just waiting until the very end to say it?

Wouldn’t I look stupid if that happened?

Please, please, please, make me look stupid.

I need to look stupid.

If I don’t, then this entire series has been a complete and utter waste of time.


Rating: 5/10 (logical dull ending, nice art and colouring)

Comic review: They’re Not Like Us #1- Depressed teen joins cult

Story: Eric Stephenson
Art: Simon Gane
Colours: Jordie Bellaire
Publisher: Image comics
Released: 24th December 2014



I’m a huge fan (cult member) of what is commonly referred to as the Richey Manic era of the Welsh pop/rock band Manic Street Preachers, so plastering ‘From Despair to Where’ on the front page of your comic book is guaranteed to get my attention.

This phrase/question ‘From Despair to Where?’ refers to a MSP’s single from their second studio album ‘Gold Against the Soul.’

The song itself is a depressing dirge about a young man finding himself lost and alone in an indifferent adult world of empty routines and blank, indifferent faces:

‘Outside open mouthed crowds 
Pass each other as if they're drugged.’

The song offers no hope, no redemption, no meaning, just a repeated question:

‘From despair to where?’

‘From despair to where?’

‘From despair to where?’

The answer, for the writer at least, was in all probability, suicide. That message of hopelessness, of defeat, is the perfect starting point to a comic book narrative that begins with a suicide attempt. But after the attempt fails, where does the story go?

From despair, to where?

In ‘They’re Not Like Us #1’ it goes into a generic cult story that comes off as more X-Men and the school of mutants rather than as anything genuinely subversive or threatening. The main protagonist (a pretty young blonde) is the perfect stand-in for a confused young mutant with special powers, but rather than being taken in by Wolverine or Professor X she is taken in by a scruffy looking bloke with mind reading powers and a hatred for society.

This cult leader bloke (The Voice) is a generic comic book cult leader villain, the exact type of guy that you would expect to see in a comic book leading the vulnerable young and suicidal protagonist astray. He saves her life, offers her a new home, but wants her to do a terrible thing to prove her loyalty. It’s pretty standard cult leader stuff, and not very interesting at all.

The Manic Street Preacher tie-in extends to the cover, and back-cover quotation. The actual book itself has no ‘lipstick’ traces of the ideas expressed by the band whatsoever. The song title is used as a launching pad only, a depressing song for a depressed protagonist.

The artwork is fine, but the story isn’t really doing anything for me. It’s a sad girl joins cult book. I can’t see anything else going on here, and so, off I go. One issue and off for me. I enjoyed the Manics references, but that’s not enough for me. It’s not a terrible book, but I don’t really want to spend my time reading yet another book about a depressed teen joining a team of evil cult followers. Where’s Professor X when you need him?

Rating: 5/10


Click link for the MSP's song (From Despair to where?) referenced in this review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCd8iHAVahQ