JoshuaCee
10-02-2008, 07:32 AM
Anyone pick it up? I did. :smile:
I thought that it was a pretty good first issue. Not great, but good. As always, the overall writing was strong. Joe Kelly is a veteran and it shows. His story here doesn't include any of the trademark humor he's known for, and instead delves into the desperation of the Great Depression. The concept here is that dragons, previously sterile creatures, have begun to procreate again. From the looks of it, some of them are free to roam and fly about NYC (which is terrifying), some are content to remain hidden from the general human population, and some are captured and forced to participate in (what I assume is) illegal, underground dragon fights. That last bit is what the plot hinges on.
The protagonist, Enrico, is a young boy who's forced to grow up very, very fast. His father worked for a crime boss, stealing dragon babies from their nests and delivering them to be raised in captivity and trained for battle. This first issue is mostly set up, and we get the impression that Enrico is going to become involved in this underground scheme, as he just so happens to have an illegal dragon in his house.
Fiumara (who's work I was unfamilar with until this issue) proves to be a very skilled artist. His backgrounds are highly detailed and the emotive expressions he draws onto the characters is top notch. He's very good at taking Kelly's written work and adding a layer of real drama to it. For example, there are scenes involving the long lines for bread and soup that would take up whole blocks. Fiumara really invokes the sense of, well, depression. These were not happy times. During that same scene, a man is shown being denied spot on a work crew. Those couple of panels actually gave me a really uneasy feeling. I won't get preachy of sentimental, but you watch the news today and the unemployment rate gets higher everyday, and we seem to be getting closer and closer to another depression, and I just felt sick at the thought of literally not being able to fend for myself.
Anyhow, this a good debut. Kelly seems to be making his comeback in the world of comics, and with the strength of I Kill Giants and now this, I'd say he's doing just fine. I'm definitely looking forward to the next issue and I really hope this book finds an audience and go the distance.
I thought that it was a pretty good first issue. Not great, but good. As always, the overall writing was strong. Joe Kelly is a veteran and it shows. His story here doesn't include any of the trademark humor he's known for, and instead delves into the desperation of the Great Depression. The concept here is that dragons, previously sterile creatures, have begun to procreate again. From the looks of it, some of them are free to roam and fly about NYC (which is terrifying), some are content to remain hidden from the general human population, and some are captured and forced to participate in (what I assume is) illegal, underground dragon fights. That last bit is what the plot hinges on.
The protagonist, Enrico, is a young boy who's forced to grow up very, very fast. His father worked for a crime boss, stealing dragon babies from their nests and delivering them to be raised in captivity and trained for battle. This first issue is mostly set up, and we get the impression that Enrico is going to become involved in this underground scheme, as he just so happens to have an illegal dragon in his house.
Fiumara (who's work I was unfamilar with until this issue) proves to be a very skilled artist. His backgrounds are highly detailed and the emotive expressions he draws onto the characters is top notch. He's very good at taking Kelly's written work and adding a layer of real drama to it. For example, there are scenes involving the long lines for bread and soup that would take up whole blocks. Fiumara really invokes the sense of, well, depression. These were not happy times. During that same scene, a man is shown being denied spot on a work crew. Those couple of panels actually gave me a really uneasy feeling. I won't get preachy of sentimental, but you watch the news today and the unemployment rate gets higher everyday, and we seem to be getting closer and closer to another depression, and I just felt sick at the thought of literally not being able to fend for myself.
Anyhow, this a good debut. Kelly seems to be making his comeback in the world of comics, and with the strength of I Kill Giants and now this, I'd say he's doing just fine. I'm definitely looking forward to the next issue and I really hope this book finds an audience and go the distance.