AudioShocker

This graphic novel hits today and I’ve been fortunate to catch an advanced peak at the book. With that said, here’s what I like most about this story: its realistic treatment of a fantastic topic, fun art that’s bright and expressive, and the story’s unique length.

The concept is simple. Paul Krutcher can fly, and he’s the first guy with this ability. But that was in the last Bizarre New World tale. As Population Explosion begins, just about everyone has discovered they can defy gravity as well. The skies are a mess of reckless, elated people. It’s an interesting take on flight by writer Skipper Martin.

And now Paul is disappointed. Not only is he robbed of feeling special — he’s trying to take flying seriously while everyone else is going on joyrides. The conflict is quickly introduced as Paul receives a garbled and hectic phone call from his son. Paul immediately sets off on a haphazard journey to save his child that might not even need to be saved.

The pencils by Christopher Provencher are expressive and attractive. They have an animated quality that plays up the fun of every panel (even when the story itself isn’t dealing with a fun topic). The colors by Wes Dzioba take the strong pencils by Provencher and slather them with bright colors that enhance the overall visual effect of the story.

But it’s the lettering by Ellen Everett that really steals the show. She uses a few great techniques to make the different forms of narration distinct. When you finally see all the different types of text converge, you know that she’s got something special going on.

I was really enthused about the size of this graphic novel from Ape Entertainment. It’s about 50 pages, clocking in at slightly more than two standard comic book issues. According to Diamond Distributors, it carries a price tag of $6.95. I think that’s a fair price concerning the quality and the page count of the tale. I hope more writers think about doing books of this size in the future.

Those are all the best parts. Now here’s what didn’t work for me. While I found the overall concept charming, I didn’t think that Martin really hit his stride until page 20. At that point, he introduced the concept of deadly (yet hilarious) mass hysteria. That was interesting for me. But the main conflict up until that point didn’t completely sell me on the story. To add to that, there was a decidedly folksy tone to the internal narration and external interactions of Paul. By the time I was hit with a preachy moment about 9/11, I felt soaked in Americana reflection. It killed the fantasy buzz of the story for me.

But all complaints aside, this book has a fun and inventive treatment of human flight. It has bright, bouncy art that works hard to maintain the fun tone, and its length is just right. I recommend this book to people excited by extraordinary possibilities but a bit burned out by the extreme science-fiction overdose of modern superhero comics.