Mr. Snyder: It’s been awhile, but you have made it back in bed with me. It may sound strange, but that is where we first met, way back with American Vampire #1. I even saw your picture in a vertical box where you spoke about your love for Steven King and the new comic you were creating with him and Rafael Albuquerque. We hit it off. AV became that Wednesday night treat I got once a month. Hell, your run on Detective even got you into bed with me on more than a few nights, but lately (sadly and regrettably) this has not been the case. Tonight, with your new series Wake, I rekindled that old tradition and smiled happily as I smoked my cigarette.

You have returned to what you do best: A strong female lead with sharp wits; a story based in legend and lore; intelligent, scientific motifs and subject matter. This is what I want. AV and especially Batman have left me wanting more as of late (Batman especially disappointed, sorry), and boy am I glad to see that you still got it! I loved how the meat of the issue was sandwiched between two so far-spanning pro and epilogues. It really put the story in perspective, and I hope we see more of both time periods. Everything about this book felt awesome: from the helicopters, to the under-the-ice submarine, the impending doom was felt and it felt like Cruz was the host of a murder-mystery dinner, “Who’s Next?”. The dialogue was great. Bravo!

As for your artistic counterparts, you could not have chosen better. You and Sean Murphy delivered the goods on Survival of the Fittest, and this looks even better! The camera angles are on-point, the expressions are realistic, the whale was awesome, the backgrounds on the scenes were ultra-detailed, I mean this book is being drawn EXCELLENTLY. All the minutia is easy to pick up on. Wonderful.

The new member of the team is Matt Hollingsworth and he KILLS IT! I knew right off the bat when I saw the color on that dolphin that something special was going on here, and then I read his name in the credits and found out what it was. The shading he does on the colors, and the variety of colors he uses really made this book stand out. He and Sean Murphy are an unprecedented pair. Beautiful.

So there, I’ve been talking bad about what you’ve been doing for awhile, and now I can see where some of your focus has been, and all I have to say is, “Thank You.” I’m sure we’ve seen some of the same information on the history and possible culture of these “mermaids, ” so it was good to see you incorporate some of that, and your its safe to say your NOAA reference wasn’t lost on at least one reader. I’m not sure where this is headed, but this was an excellent first issue and there is an ocean of potential in this subject. So keep it coming!