Apache Delivery Service #3: Bump in the Night

Apache delivery service #3 leaves Ernie in an interesting position. He’s officially AWOL and has just learned that the man he went on a treasure hunt with is the serial killer they were suspicious of. This issue ends before we see what Ernie does about Sobrat, but the preview for the next issue suggests they’re still reaching for gold. The final pages show close-ups of Sobrat, a possibly dead hunter from the flashback, the deer, and back to Ernie. This might suggest that Sobrat is like the hunter, he gets what he wants but ends up paying the price. It could mean that Ernie is like the deer, which I don’t know what that means for Ernie. The deer wasn’t in a “kill or be killed” situation, but it seems Ernie is.

Tyler Jenkins’ style works extremely well with this type of story. The threadlike lines and slight inconsistencies correspond to the gritty and unsettling nature of the story. Ernie is surrounded by death on almost every page. The same sentiment carries over to the lettering which is also done by Tyler Jenkins. The speech bubbles look hand-drawn and not the clean, even speech bubbles you’d normally find in a comic. Sometimes the actual lettering looks like it was done by hand, like the powerful “WHAT ARE YOU DOING” when Ernie finds So. Tyer Jenkins’ art is very detailed when it needs to be, but Hilary Jenkins’ colors are on another level of the story’s mood. The use of dark greens and blues reminds readers that Ernie is in the jungle, surrounded by darkness and danger.