New Comics, No Capes – Part Two
I’m here to continue a look at brand new, non-superhero comics to have recently been released. Looking over this week’s round up, I realize that every one of these books has been published by Image. This wasn’t intention on my part, but I think it demonstrates something excellent about a company that is willing to take chances with new stories, different genres and diverse casts – so good job, Image.
This week we look at two scifi series (one really action packed and one…really not), the fantasy comic I wanted to be reading last week (take notes, Hinterkind), and a very unique horror comic.
Rocket Girl
Latest Issue #2 | Publisher: Image | Artist: Amy Reeder | Writer: Brandon Montclare
Rocket Girl is weird. But it’s all the right kinds of weird, even if that weird does involve time travel, which is personally one of my least favorite storytelling devices in the history of all the time there ever was, ever will be and ever COULD BE (I’m serious about this so I have to cover those paradoxes). The time travel here comes into play when DaYoung Johansson, a 15 year old cop from the future (well, an alternative reality 2013), goes back in time to the 1980s to stop the creators of the device that allows time travel. We’re not exactly sure WHY she’s doing this and I’m worried that moving forward this this title is going to get confusing – there’s the action in the past, action in the future, flashbacks IN the future and a big part of DaYoung’s characterization is the fact she embraces that changing the past she’s rewriting and deleting her own future. Which is awesome. But even this few issues in, is starting to get confusing.
The art is spectacular. Reeder packs tons of details in every panel; the style is great for this action-packed story with elements from both the 20teens and the 1980s, the characters are crisp and well designed and the many two page spreads of New York City in either time period are just gorgeous. I recommend picking up Rocketgirl – it’s a unique story that hopefully remains easy to follow and fun to read.
Umbral
Latest Issue #1 | Publisher: Image | Artist: Christopher Mitten | Writer: Antony Johnston
Umbral is what Hinterkind needs to be. There’s some similarities between the comics – Umbral, like Hinterkind, is a fantasy story following a young girl – in this case the young thief Rascal. Umbral is much darker in both art and story, with ‘The Umbral’ being some kind of dark other plane that Rascal accesses after her friend is messily killed before her by some kind of shadow-demon monsters. Umbral is atmospheric and intriguing, with a strong first issue that’s a pleasure to read thanks to Mitten’s moody style. Like Hinterkind, characters’ facial expressions can be abstract, but Umbral’s stylistic art makes it fit in perfectly with everything else – Umbral’s dark style works much better for the genre than Hinterkind’s realism.
Umbral’s story build up is strong from page one, which starts with narration from a presumably older Rascal, hinting at a long series of adventures from the young thief, starting with the Day That Dawned Twice. So far my only nitpick about the series is how certain violent and (presumably) traumatic events that Rascal is witness to seem to leave her rather unaffected – I’d think she’d be shaken up seeing a good friend messily killed, but her reaction isn’t something that gets deeply explored. This is a fairly minor concern at this point, as Umbral’s first issue was jampacked with story and worldbuilding from the start and we don’t know more than superficial about Rascal, from her past to her personality.
If Umbral can keep up the pace with excellent world building, beautiful art, interesting story and add some more characterization, this is going to be a great example of how fantasy comics should be handled.
Alex + Ada
Latest Issue #1 | Publisher: Image | Artist/Writer: Jonathan Luna | Writer: Sarah Vaughn
Alex + Ada is Chobits without all the…anime-ness of it. Or at least I think it is?
This series is supposed to be about a lonely young man and the android woman sent into his life as a well-intentioned gift. So theoretically transhumanism, romance, and…other stuff. It’s hard to tell where this is going because so very little happens in this first issue except for plot set up and some exploration of Alex’s life. We don’t see Ada (the android) until the last two or three pages. The art is fine, I guess; it looks a little too digitally polished to me but maybe that works? It does fit very well to the near-future, sanitized world that Alex inhabits.
I’m not saying that such a slow first issue is bad – I think it does a great job of setting up the monotony and loneliness of Alex’s life. It’s just that so little happens in this first issue that I don’t have any idea what to think of the actual quality of the book so far. I’ll come back to this title in the future. It’s really promising – the story is firmly in my wheelhouse (roboooooooots) and I want to know more.
A Voice in the Dark
Latest Issue #1 | Publisher: Top Cow/Image | Artist/Writer: Larime Taylor
Just released this week, I think the story of how A Voice in the Dark came to exist is nearly as good as the comic itself. An honest to god creator owned property, Voice is drawn and written by Larime Taylor. He used Kickstarter with the intention of putting together a full issue for submission to major publishers and ended up being successful enough to do a three issue digital trade, a printed issue and obviously managed a deal with a major publisher. For a brand new creator-owned series, this is already pretty impressive. Oh, and by the way, Taylor draws, writes, tones, letters, etc, the entire series (including the first super-sized 36-page issue) by mouth as Taylor is a disabled creator.
Voice is one of the few comics I’ve read lately that stuck with me after I read it – while I love titles like Rat Queens and Coffin Hill, they’re the kind of books I don’t think about much when I’m not actively talking comics. Voice, on the other hand, stuck with me from the moment I set it down. A Voice in the Dark is the story of Zoey, a freshman college student with straight-A grades, who is dedicated to her younger sister; Zoey just so happens to also be a murderer. The premiere issue follows Zoey’s first few days at her all girls’ college in Southern California, 1,000 miles away from her family (and the scene of her crime) in Seattle. Zoey is struggling with her urges to murder again and often daydreams about killing – she’s something of a possible serial killer in the making, and the Voice in the Dark of the title refers to the anonymous radio show she begins to DJ to help her cope with her urges.
Voice has a lot going for it. The art style is pretty unique – grayscale with fairly simple designs, but manages to convey quite a bit with good facial expressions and great use of body language. The main character’s backstory is explained deftly and in a refreshingly straight forward manner (sometimes it’s nice when the mysteries are more nebulous character aspects instead of WHAT DID THEY DO THAT DARK NIGHT IN THE FOREST?! …sorry, Coffin Hill, I still love you). I love the bonus material in the back of the book where Taylor describes the genesis of the comic – “Zoey was the main character because the ethnic girl usually dies first.” From there, the idea of a smart female serial killer blossomed. The main cast is mostly female and actually diverse – Latina, white, straight, gay, this cast is all over the place so kudos to Voice for that rarity.
Voice is promisingly character driven, with its characters appearing as your standard horror movie tropes on the surface and slowly becoming something much more. Now that’s haunting to me – slasher movies succeed because you don’t get attached to the characters, but Voice is going somewhere else entirely. I’m getting attached to this cast when I know the story is about a girl (whom I like, despite myself) who’s fantasizing about killing all of them and who may or may not be able to hold off that urge. From a creative perspective I love and am very impressed with A Voice in the Dark but I will warn you – it straight up disturbed me a bit.
