The Awakening Volume 1

Francesca, the only child of an affluent family, is excited to be attending one of the most prestigious boarding schools in New England. Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong when, shortly after her arrival, she finds one of her classmates brutally murdered, sending her into a deep shock, rendering her mute. Even worse, immediately following the tragic incident, Francesca begins to have visions of which girl will be slain next, and she is unable to tell anyone about it. Is this a new horror being visited on the longstanding institution, or is it something much more, going to the core of the school itself, to an evil that defies description?

Comics Worth Reading:

"The Awakening is a slasher film on paper."

The Fourth Rail:

"Beyond just the attractive look of the work, however, Genovese also does an excellent job in setting the mood of the piece. He isolates characters in panels to give the sense of a woman alone, being stalked by an unseen killer. He gives us close-ups of one of the girl's lips to hint at her sexuality. He shows us the light going out in the eyes of one of the victims. And his use of close, claustrophobic panels contrasted with wide open shots to show that there's nothing lurking nearby does an excellent job of capturing that sense of impending doom that is usually done in a horror film with camera tricks and/or the score."

Read About Comics:

"What made The Awakening stand out for me, though, was the mood that [they] created. There's a horrible sense of inevitability that looms over the students of Grenrock, thanks in part to Francesca's terrifying visions that come to her over and over again. Bit by bit Shaffer takes away everything comforting to his characters, their lives falling to pieces even as they're ended one at a time."

"This is the first English language work for Luca Genovese, and it's an extremely impressive debut. Genovese's art is crafted through pages of shaded pencils, and it's a fantastic looking effect... there's a lot of care that's gone into the visual look of The Awakening, and Genovese hits all of his marks perfectly."