HYDE STREET #10: Play Your Cards Right

Hyde Street is ever-changing and ever-consuming as Clarissa once found out. She has also found that if you play your cards right the ticket out of Hyde Street can come sooner than later but will the same fate meet her sister Lucinda or will she fall victim to the Scorekeeper?

Creative Team: Geoff John’s (WRITER), Francis Portela (ARTIST), Brad Anderson (COLORS and COVER), Rob Leigh (LETTERS), Danny Miki and Ivan Reis (COVER).

*Spoilers Ahead*

The Story:

Geoff weaves in and out of story that builds upon suspense and grief. I have fallen truly in love with the various stories of Hyde Street’s victims in a twisted way thanks to Geoff’s abilities to bring a sense of sympathy to these otherwise twisted characters. Clarissa’s story being that her and her sister used to rip off grieving families until they stumbled into Hyde Street, and then losing Lucinda brings exactly the right amount of sympathy. I personally have never liked psychics, and Geoff manages to pull out the ‘got what they deserved’ emotions as well.

Amongst all of the backstory we are met with a new faceless character who is locked away inside of a room as The Monsters castle. The way Rob letters the voice sent chills down my spine and the two capture the uneasy essence of this mysterious figure so well. It appears we are about to meet someone nasty in the coming issues and I cannot hardly wait.

The Art:

The artwork continues to be a strong point in capturing the various emotions that are painted throughout the panels of these issues. The subtle way they show only the chin and sly smile of this mysterious figure builds up the mystique around him and delivers the uneasy sense we get as he speaks. There were moments as such in the flashback when I nearly forgot that Clarissa was ripping the family off because the drastic changes in the colors from bright to the dark purple as though she was hearing their son sucked me right in as well. The way the background and the text boxes shift in colors and the tiniest bit of details all do a tremendous job at building up this story.

Final Thoughts:

Hyde Street #10 continues to place breadcrumbs that we follow into the ever darkening street of death. Every time we think the team has shown us the worst that Hyde Street has to offer we are set up with someone or something even worse! There are details on the board of names we have not met yet that play on our imaginations thanks to the art team and Geoff. Will I ever get out of Hyde Street myself or does this comic have me trapped forever with how good it is?

Overall Grade: 10/10

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