Marilyn Manor - issue 1.
Writer - Magdalene Visaggio.
Art - Marley Zarcone.
Cover Colours - Tamra Bonvillain.
Interior Colours - Irma Kniivila.
Letters - Jane Heir.
Edited by Shelly Bond
21 pages - £2.99 - 21 pages
Here is what ComiXology enthusiastically tells us about this issue;
‘Where were you in ’81? When the White House goes dark for 17 days in August, the president’s spoiled daughter and her best friend Abe—who claims to be possessed by the spirit of Abe Lincoln—throw a rager at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, unearthing long dead historical figures and government secrets that are better off buried. Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll séances, and secret passageways lead to time-bending mystical romps where past and present collide. But at what cost to Marilyn Kelleher, the world at large, and music television? Uniting the red-hot Eisner-nominated talents of writer Magdalene Visaggio (Eternity Girl, Kim and Kim) and artist Marley Zarcone (Shade, the Changing Girl; Effigy) for the first time, MARILYN MANOR explores identity, classism, appropriation, and friendship. It’s a rollicking, neon party gone out of bounds when we need it most—set just in time for the greatest pop cultural marriage to date: MTV.’
A quote from Visaggio at the time of release said; “We've been trying to capture the feel, the excitement, the energy of the rise of the New Romantics, of the decade that embraced excess and excitement in hugely over-the-top ways, and filled it with chaos and insanity. This is the weirdest thing I've ever written in the best way possible, like an apocalypse directed by John Hughes."
The Review - I’ve seen this issue reviewed like it is the second coming on a certain unreliable comics news site that I’m sure we have all heard about. I was lucky as I went in knowing that this was the first issue of a series that was quickly cancelled and many would not know this. To be fair the cancellation wasn’t due to the quality of the book but rather that the imprint was quite suddenly closed. This is however on a number of levels in art and storytelling an unconvincing and apparently rushed issue. I also lived through the era of the New Romantics that Visaggio mentions - she did not and that really shows. Nothing at all rings true and it’s an exercise in creating something I suppose, I’m just not sure what exactly.
The story shows the rebellious daughter of the president and her plans to host a party in the White House. She discovers a secret underground passage and then it all starts. Marilyn dreams of Madonna and Monroe and they discover an underground sex room. And that is pretty much it.
The dialogue echoes nothing of the era and not a single person comes off as real. It’s like someone watched a Hallmark movie and decided to do their version of the New Romantic movement and a rebellious princess story. The New Romantic element seems to be just just about mentioning that ‘Adam Ant’ and ‘Billy Idol’ are at the party with some clothes copied out of an issue of Smash Hits they had laying around. There’s none of the danger or edge that at least some of the movement in the early days exhibited.
I actually find the following almost too embarrassing to write about but...... The Sid Vicious analogue character (who barely does anything at all) is even called ‘Harry Sykes’ - god help us! Who wrote this? Twelve year olds?
The art lacks detail and any kind of personality. With books like Eve Stranger, Punks Not Dead and Euthanauts the Black Crown line has had some real artistic high points. This is just under drawn and I suspect rushed out as the creators may have suspected the second issue would not be forthcoming. The colour also suffers from being flat and dull and genuinely uninteresting.
The question should also be asked of IDW that if you knew going into the release of this book that there wouldn’t be any more - why, oh why was it released at all? It’s worth noting at this point that although this comic is listed on the Black Crown page on ComiXology the actual cover shows it as an IDW comic.
No links - don’t bother looking for it.
Many thanks for reading.
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