|
CBG SATELLITES
The ADD Blog by Alan David Doane
|
 PLEASE SUPPORT COMIC BOOK GALAXY BY VISITING OUR SPONSORS
Shuck the Sulfurstar #1-2
That slang that the characters talk in is what will
first grab readers, before plot or art (Smith says in
the letter column to the first issue the question he
gets the most concerns the origin of the characters’
speech). Our man Shuck is found to be giving
soliloquies starting with “it will be all folly
strange not attending wif the rest of the crèches fer
work to morrows.” Smith makes his book and his
characters stand out with this kind of ancient speech
pattern that is apparently Smith’s own creation.
All that would be a neat party trick and nothing else
if the book actually didn’t tell a good story. There
is something fascinating about how this demon Shuck
retires (is forced to retire really) from his job, all
set out to live a life without Heaven and Hell. I
wonder if Smith is creating a parable about leaving
religion amidst a small town beholden to tradition.
The villagers who are hypnotized by this sulfurstar
that keep popping up from the ground, which Shuck
learns he has a lot to do with him. Shuck himself is
so likeable in his weariness his story does intrigue,
along with the little girl Thursday Friday and her
family that Shuck gets caught up with him.
While I wasn’t taken with Smith’s artwork in
Temporary #1 (see The Comics Journal
#268) I find that he comes to it with a lot more
enthusiasm when he’s writing his own characters. Few
things in Shuck relate to the real world, it’s
all about various looking demons and angels. The real
people are just as unique, with an Annie-by-way-of-Tim
Burton look for lil’ Thursday. Unlike Temporary
Smith totally owns the simple figure designs and bold
lines he employs here.
Shuck seems not like a fantasy comic but like
some kind of cool parable. It’s a wonderful comic
because it represents so much of its creator’s vision.
Smith has the whole series planned out for 2007 and I
hope he gets more and more people on board as his
comic continues.
-- Ian Brill
Send review copies to:
|
The problem I’ve always had with the fantasy genre is
that the typical fantasy world of forests and elves
never appealed to me. Of course that’s a horrible
over-simplification of what fantasy
movies/comics/books offer and anyone who is a real fan
will see so much more to it than that.
But for me even watching Lord of the Rings is hard to get
into with its talk of Orcs and wizards. I suppose
that’s why the first two issues of this comic worked
for me. If it had to be classified under any category,
not an easy task, it would be fantasy. Yet Smith has
come up with a comic that is so unique, you will never
find characters that speak like the ones in here, that
it can be enjoyed by anyone looking for a good
story.