Advance Review – Andrea Sorrentino Takes `Tenement’ #2 To Another World

It really isn’t fair to other artists that Andrea Sorrentino is as great of an illustrator as he is.

For any unbelievers out there – and shame on you if you still are – take a look at his work in Tenement #2. He performs the usual – well, usual for him anyway – magic by deconstructing a page into panels that seem to have come untethered. It’s a signature of his. He then ups the ante with a double-page spread using the same technique.

What makes it even more interesting is that, in addition to advancing the many character’s stories, an inky blob of darkness over an otherwise white background helps to connect the panels. It gives the impression of a Rorschach test, which seems very appropriate.

A bit later in the issue, Sorrentino follows those pages up with another double-page spread that illustrates the Tenement apparently being transported to another world. It’s a terrifying blood-red landscape filled with demonic-looking buildings with some pyramids thrown in the deep background. To add to the realism, the building tenets view the hellish panorama through their tenement window, on which Sorrentino thoughtfully added some flies.

Sorrentino wows with even his seemingly mundane pages with two characters just talking. His unique angles and brooding figures tell their own stories. And a dark staircase leading to who knows where is perfectly framed to add to the tension. Dave Stewart’s dark colors help to reinforce the mood.

As otherworldly as Sorrentino’s artwork is, it provides some needed grounding for Jeff Lemire’s confusing script. That’s not an insult. This early into a horror story of this nature, things are bound to be unclear. Answers – some of them anyway – will eventually present themselves.

For now though, we have some amazing artwork to keep readers coming back for more each month.

Tenement #2 will be available for purchase on July 26, 2023.