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Did you love Looper? Do you like time travel? Then you should read Comeback! Click for our review…
Comeback #1 (1 of 5)
Written by Ed Brisson
Art by Michael Walsh
Published by Image Comics
Did you enjoy the sci-fi drama movie Looper starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis? You know, the movie that used time travel to assassinate people from the future? Wasn’t that just awesome? Well, if you’re into time travel in general and a bit of sci-fi/mystery, then Comeback is a comic book you will definitely enjoy. Writer, Ed Brisson (Murder Book) makes a huge return this new mini-series.
Synopsis: Have you ever regretted something or someone in your life to the point where you just wanted to change it? If you have enough money and the price is right a company called RECONNECT who specializes in time travel, can help you with that problem.
Good: In the beginning the comic reads like a noir style book, which is due it large part to Brisson’s experience and history in writing crime novels, so while it seems typical of him to start with a little kidnapping and some screaming ask yourself, How else should this story?
Truth be told, it was a good move on Brisson’s part to use this suspenseful writing to lead the readers into the world of time travel. The best thing that Brisson does that some writers do with a set up issue is not use voice-over narration to explain everything in the first issue. Brisson actually relies on the dialogue of the characters to tell readers what’s going on and where the direction of the mini-series is going. This use of storytelling helps readers to get a sense of not only what’s happening in the issue, but also establishes each characters’ personality; Readers learn more about the direction of the book from the dialogue than from voice-over narrations. Voice-overs tend to hurt the story if not used correctly, by creating a less suspenseful plot for the book and it can sometimes bore the readers because they already know what’s going to happen. Not only do we get a great story, but the characters aren’t hidden, and it’s easier to see that they are down to earth and relatable making them easy to understand. You could even pick a favourite from this first issue!
Artist, Mark Walsh has worked with Brisson before on Murder Book so he is no stranger to the Brisson’s style of writing. From the looks of this and previous works, Walsh takes inspiration from Sean Phillips (Marvel Zombies, Incognito) who has a certain identifiable style of illustrating in comic books of his own, and that is a style that is suited to noir or pulp fiction. Walsh makes his own mark on the noir style as his work looks fantastically beautiful and classic on the comic book pages as you read them, but unlike Phillips, Walsh uses a lot more expressive facial features. This helps create tension and suspense throughout the first issue, and honestly it’s just better when all the faces look different.
Bad: Brisson is a good writer, but there are moments where the first issue became confusing. As soon as you try to get into the story, Brisson introduces another part of the story that is separate from the two main characters who are introduced at the beginning of the story. At this point, there should have been an indication that this was a new plot point, or they were in another location. The readers cannot assume that the characters are all connected or disconnected from each other without a little bit of help, and this might have been a mistake on Brisson’s part.
It’s a slow paced first issue but the story holds a lot of mystery and darkness surrounding the story and characters. It’s a shame that this mini-series will only last for a few issues. It has a lot of potential, but then again something this good should bow out on a high note than end leaving us confused and disappointed.
Rating: 4.9 /5
What did you think of #1? Are you reading this issue? Why or why not?
More images from this issue below.
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