Sunday Revue June 9: Rocket Girl

Set Your Engines For

A teenage cop from a hightech future is sent back in time to 1986 New York City. Dayoung Johansson is investigating the Quintum Mechanics megacorporation for crimes against time. As she pieces together the clues, she discovers the “future” she calls home—an alternate reality version of 2014—shouldn’t exist at all!
Rocket Girl is the creation of  Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder. Copies are available at this link. 

The Rating

This sweet treat of a retro-noir NY ice cream cone is the perfect thing for a Saturday morning in your PJs.

The Raves

 

Born in a future where only teenagers are believed to be unbiased enough to be public servants and all adults work for the big Corporation, DaYoung has decided to make sure her world doesn't end up this way. She decides to go back in time and fix whatever rotted the Big Apple in the first place, way back in the 1980s. Cue shenanigans, wild rocket rides, retro jokes and a great time.
This wacky cast of characters is perfect for their setting.The Commissioner is a boy who looks like he stole his dad's trench coat. Annie and her crew from the lab where time travel and the Quintum Mechanic's great discoveries were made are the perfect geeks-with-a-grip gang, and they've got all the 80s style you could want. The bad guy is perfectly comic book, and DaYoung's troupe has the perfect resolve only available to teens. Add in a couple slightly tropey NPCs for comic relief, and you have a great cast.

Fast paced and full of energy, the writing forms a perfect symbiosis with the art. The artistic style complements the story, echoing the leather, color and lace of the best 80s comics.
With elements of justice and a clean expository style, the story gets you all the information you need without holding you up too long on details. You get the gist, but not the fine print. There's no time for that when there are villains to catch and rockets to ride!
The style is quick and direct, but ultimately satisfying. The energy is phenomenal.

The Razzes

I don't have much for you here. A little more depth would have been nice, but it might have been like that extra scoop of ice cream that makes the whole sundae tip over. Nope, I'll take it as is.

The Revue

A sweet retro roller coaster of a read. Grab ahold and hang on!

Sunday Revue April 7: Dead By Wednesday

The Curtain Lifts....
Annnnd What's This?
The MC Reappears Onstage!

That's right, gentlefolx. It's been quite the winter, but the Strip Show is BACK. And what a treat we have on stage today!

Dead by Wednesday, Volume 1

This is the life of Wednesday Daring: track space scum. Catch. Collect bounty. Spend reward. Repeat. Follow Daring on her adventures tracking down the galaxy's most notorious criminals, all with the help of her space slug, Andy, at her side. The creation of Kim and Sam Eggleston, Dead By Wednesday can be found at this link

The Rating

A Wild Space Ride!

The Raves

The joy of comics is that, with the right artist, you can lay out a world in a series of neat images. And this work has the right artist. It has the right writer too, and things get off to an...interesting start for our protagonist.
Welcome to Purgatory, and the life of Wednesday Dare. In a few clever panels, you have an entire world in mind, complete with multiple species, a history, the haves and the have nots. And Wednesday has a day to start...reluctantly.


With bounty-hunter grit and sexy wit, Wednesday is a great character.  She's got sass, and the skills to back it up.
And her friends aren't too shabby either.


The characters are laid out quickly and well, settling them into the multi-racial universe they inhabit deftly. And Wednesday's character is one that will stick in the mind. The art style is technically great and clever to boot, using backgrounds to good effect and adding in a few little easter eggs for the geeks in the audience. Color and shading are used to their fullest extent, and the species and ship designs are engaging without being distracting.

Sly, wry and full of quick wit, this comic is well written and well-versed in its genre. It gets us through setup and into action without missing a beat. But it still makes time for unexpected tenderness. That's a great thing to see in a comic.

With nice setup, nice action, and a nice payoff that has readers waiting for the next issue, this one has all the hallmarks of good comic writing.

The Razzes

I have two areas of objection, both minor, for this work.

1) I would have liked a little more story in the first issue, but it definitely got me hooked for a starter

2) while technically good, there's a sense of stiffness to the shoulders and arm gestures of a few characters. Male necks are also a bit stiff (no pun intended ;) ) I'd like to see more work on fluid lines to loosen that up.

The Revue

Raise a glass and read a copy.