Anti-hero issues 1 and 2.
Written by Jay Faerber.
Art by Nate Stockman.
Colours by Paul Little.
Letters by Charles Pritchett.
Published by Monkey Brain Comics www.monkeybraincomics.com
I was lucky to get
sent a pre-release copy of this title by the writer Jay Faerber. I have admired
Jay’s work for some time now and loved his Noble Causes series. He mixes great
personal moments with super hero action in his work as a stylistic choice that
works really well.
This book is
currently a digital only book from Monkey Brain Comics and is well worth a
look. It follows the hero Paragon who inhabits a city of superheroes and super
villains. Paragon seems to be a reliable and heroic figure fighting for justice
with a pensive and practical manner. He successfully completes a mission and
beats some gangsters up. One of the gangsters is a capo in an organised crime
family who follows Paragon and witnesses him unmasking. This criminal decides
to keep this discovery to himself and use it to his own benefit. He blackmails
Paragon into becoming a costumed villain called Bludgeon. They then conspire
(against our hero’s wishes) to steal cash from the very mobsters this capo
works for.
We follow Paragon in
his civilian life and watch as his life turns to banality and sadness as this
oft times hero meets with his soon to be ex wife to sign some divorce papers he then has to explain this to his kids and then apologise to his boss for being late to work.
Each of these books
are priced at 99 cents – exactly how much a digital comic should be in my
opinion. The covers evoke pulp crime novels of the 1950s and are striking to
the eye.
Mr Faerber works this idea of the manipulated hero logically and with
imagination. It all feels real and has that crime noir mixed with regular superheroics
feel to it. It reveals to us a little bit of nastiness as the story builds in a
masterful fashion. It rattles along speedily and pays attention to character
and action in equal measure. The action is handled well and not unnecessarily dragged
out and the personal moments (a stand out moment in the signing of the divorce
papers) is handled with Faerber’s usual style and care. It has that ‘what if
superheroes existed’ exterior with more depth than we usually get. He
extrapolates real world problems well in the initial issue and lays it all up
for future instalments.
The art is crisp and
well coloured. It reminds me a little bit of a book like The Boys or Incorruptible (from the last couple of years in story and style) and we get an almost cartoony feel that
counterpoints it’s gritty ironic edge. Nate Stockman uses style (and Little’s
colours) to differentiate between the two alter egos. These two costumes
reflect current trends in capes and cowls as one is bright and showy whilst the
other is dark and armoured. I had not seen Stockman’s art before and you can
tell that he is still learning but so far the book looks great and flows well
from panel to panel. His storytelling works well for me and it’s an enjoyable
ride art wise. He quotes Sal Buscema and John McCrea as major influences and you can see this through the pages of this title. He is straightforward in his action but also with energy. He will be one to watch in days to come.
What this book does
successfully for me is in making the dilemma the core of the story. We don’t
get pages of exposition that lay out the heroes powers or place in a super team
or organisation. The main narrative stream is the fact that he is being
manipulated successfully by someone who would normally be dealt with in a
punchy or kicky moment. This is mixed up with some Stan Lee style grounding of
the hero in the regular world with all his regular world problems. One moment
he is punching bad guys, then he’s getting a bollocking from his boss, then he
is being ordered around by a sleazy con man.
It’s great fun and
really wants me to read on into the series. It doesn’t pretend to be anything
more than an interesting and fun crime / superhero comic. In keeping to this it’s
perfect for these shorter chunks that you can read on your digital device.
Issue one is great
vale and is double sized and Faerber hopes to get out ten pages for each
following issue. I have to admit to not being a regular digital reader but will
try out future issues and have a look at the rest of Monkey Brain’s output.
Anti-Hero issue 1 is
released tomorrow (June 26th) through Comixology or direct through
the Monkey Brain website.
NIA.
No comments:
Post a Comment