Johnny Depp is one of those actors who you can tell from his performance that he gets very intimate with his characters. His out of body performance in Edward Scissorhands is both electric and peculiar. His steely resolve and cool hands made him a believable gangster in Donnie Brasco. Then there is the role he is most known for, Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, a role which he draws as much as love as hate for.

I actually like the roles in which you forget that he is a worldwide movie star and think of him as just an actor who actually has depth and range. My favorite movie of his was Secret Window. In it he’s accused of plagiarism and is stalked by the man who accuses him of it. This was one of those stories where art and artist becomes blended. In Fanbase Press’ The Margins, we get a story much like Depp’s film, just even more deprave.

We meet Charley Keo, a graphic artist, whose newest job is to illustrate the graphic adaptation of the Elad, a book which is considered a classic. As her work starts, the book has an enigmatic pull on her, in the strangest ways, as she starts seeing things no one else can, as well as the writer, Gordy Lamb,  whose reaction has become so visceral that the sights, sounds and smells, feel all too real and these visions start eroding their live as even Charley’s relationship with her girlfriend, Rita, is slowly torn apart by these unusual forces. As the world Charley draws becomes unnervingly too real, as one casualty has caused all involved to realize this is not a work of fiction but an alternate universe that has deadly implications. By book’s end, the two worlds collide, as one major fight leads to the truth about everything and a new reality being born.

Overall, an existential trip that challenges the limits of reality and the immersion of art. The story by Paul Montgomery and David Accampo is irreverent, scary, and powerful. The art by Donahue and Accampo is luminous and alluring. Altogether, a story is both fantastical and intense enough to both entertain and scare the reader.

Story: Paul Montgomery and David Accampo
Art: Amanda Donahue and David Accampo
Story: 10 Art: 9.6 Overall: 9.7 Recommendation: Buy