Story by Sam Sarkar
Art by Garrie Gastonny
After excavating an ancient sarcophagus from the Sable Island pit, Dr. Gabrielle Page and her crew have discovered that its contents are not what they expected. This quickly leads members of Gabrielle’s team to take sides in the heated disagreement about how to proceed.
Sarkar effectively portrays a group of morally ambiguous characters whose motives are largely undefined, which leaves the reader scratching their head about who can be trusted. Unfortunately, this also has the side effect of making it difficult to know who to care about. When characters are put into jeopardy, the tension tends to fall a little flat without knowing who to root for.
As with any story of found horrors, a balance must be struck between environmental dangers and the perils of human interaction under extreme pressure. Sarkar does an admirable job finding this equilibrium, but a few characters’ reactions toward the middle of the book feel forced and somewhat unnatural.
This is also where the story falls apart, if only a little bit. After a major event changes the situation for everyone involved (I’m trying my best to avoid spoilers), I feel like the script gets very choppy, rushing to the end of the book and skipping around too much in the process.
The realism that Gastonny’s linework infuses into his characters is exceptional, and at times almost takes a back seat to his equally realistic environments. Where the script may fail at endearing these characters to me, the art succeeds at making them relatable and unique. The artwork is this book’s biggest draw.
Although The Vault is very reminiscent of other tales like The Abyss and Leviathan, I’m intrigued enough to follow it through to the end and see where Sarkar’s taking me.
