Seven. There are seven of them. That much I am certain of.
Woah.
Every time I think the unhinged [slash incredibly gifted] creative team of writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino can't top their 2018's smash sensation Gideon Falls, they just casually drop another horror classic in the medium. The Eisner-winning creative team behind Primordial, The Passageway, and Ten Thousand Black Feathers return this June with the next installment in their The Bone Orchard Mythos shared universe: Tenement.
"In Tenement, Lemire and Sorrentino bring fans the story of seven residents in a building and the dark secrets that bind them together… beginning with a death that feels much more sinister than natural."
Tenement is now a 10-issue series, according to Image Comics
What this first issue of Tenement does so well is exactly what Lemire has always been so revered for throughout his impressive career: giving the reader interesting characters [specifically seven in this series] you want to follow while only showing a fraction of the actual plot. No need to bother you with what this story is about, we'll worry about that later -- let's introduce you to the characters you are not only going to root for, but also those you are eventually going to love to hate. I'm always so intrigued by every new "Lemire inaugural issue", because unlike the majority of creators that attempt to draw you in with an interesting plot, Lemire almost always defaults to showcasing his legendary character-building and banking on you wanting to follow them for the rest of the series.
Jeff Lemire recently described the Bone Orchard Mythos:
Every story will be readable and enjoyable by itself. Each story will have a dedicated cast, a beginning, and an end, all self-contained in the OGN or series you're reading. You don't need to read one to understand another, and you don't even need to read them in publication order. You can jump in with Tenement, then read The Passageway or vice versa, and it won't influence your reading experience at all. What will link the stories will be a shared timeline and shared horror mythology that will grow with each new book. There will be some hints of the FCBD issue to The Passageway and some of The Passageway in Ten Thousand Black Feathers. We will find interesting ways to connect the books and build a larger mythology for dedicated readers. They will all give you different details of what's behind this whole shared universe, its rules, and its major players. And some characters may appear in multiple stories. But we will still strive to have each story be enjoyed as a self-contained tale. To sum it up, you will be able to enjoy the self-contained single stories by reading them alone, but you will have an idea of the bigger, overhanging, worldbuilding by reading them all.
Shocker: Sorrentino's art is as surreal as ever. What continues to be his calling card though is his out-of-this-world panel layouts. There is just simply no one like him in the medium. Syncing up perfectly with Lemire's script, Sorrentino pages slowly unveil the story bit by bit, never holding the hand of the reader or telling them how to think/feel. This team, alongside with the always magnificent Dave Stewart, blur the line of what is real and what is waiting for you in the shadows.
Like I said, insane panels. We must bow down to Sorrentino.
Clearly, I was a big fan of this first issue and will continue on with not only Tenement, but the rest of the Bone Orchard Mythos.
Tenement #1 will be available on the 21st of June, with covers by Sorrentino, the always irresistible Christian Ward, Martin Simmonds, and Tradd Moore.
