Review by Karl Verhoven

After several volumes of the core cast being separated, The Striped Souls reunites them, and it’s a game changer for Alone. There was a glimmer of hope in The Rebels of Neosalem, and that’s fanned into a positive flame here.

However, it comes with a warning that while Fabien Vehlmann has finally decided to explain the background to what’s happening (provided the source can be believed), it’s really hard going. “The power might possess you, turning you into an Anti-Mage”, drones the explanation, “or even, if it is particularly strong, detach itself entirely from you and become autonomous, thus becoming one of the abominations of the fourteenth family, a nightmare”. That’s not picking on an isolated example as there are two dense pages of such stuff. Still, Dodzi seems to understand, and if you can’t trust him after all he’s been through, then who can you trust?

The most important takeaway is that among assorted beings assigned roles are the striped souls, and the group Alone follows fall into that category. In practice it means each has a form of super power, and after the dull explanations, it’s exciting as they realise, learn what they can do and figure out the practicalities. In any other series introducing this six hundred pages in would seem an artificial convenience, but here it just seems a natural progression. What Terry can do was foreshadowed a couple of volumes back, with a delightful continuation here, and the feeling is that he’s going to be instrumental when the ending comes.

Bruno Gazzotti once again charms and excites with the art. His children are believable as such, and what they feel is well conveyed. So is the biggest threat here, which is gloriously drawn despite being entirely unlikely.

The start may be dull as Vehlmann pours out the background, but he rapidly recovers to produce a predominantly joyful episode, and there hasn’t been one of those for a while, although they’re not common in horror. Several unpredictable and delightful touches occur, most concerning Terry, and by the end we’ve met someone mentioned in earlier volumes but never seen, and learned the weight of expectation placed on Dodzi.

It’s surprising that Alone doesn’t attract more attention. It’s phenomenally imaginative and well crafted horror for young adults that transcends the intended market and should captivate anyone, despite the cast being children. Bring on The Protectors.