Alan Robert’s Wire Hangers #2
Life of Agony bassist Alan Robert becomes a comic book creator with his inaugural work, Wire Hangers. This four part series is a dark tale of conspiracies, vigilantes, cops, feds, homeless freaks, nosey reporters and gore. Alan Robert is the writer and artist of this twisted series.
The artwork stands out immediately. The book is drawn to be admired. Reminiscent of Ben Templesmith, the pages become a character all their own. The art is a murky and wild, capturing the chaotic and sinister tone of the story. Smartly placed lighting effects give life to the panels and catches the readers’ eye. There are weaknesses in Robert’s skills. Certain characters are disproportionate and he seems unable to capture some action movements .
The story is picking up the pace and the characters, stilted and cliqued in the first issue, are getting a life and voice of their own. The story continues to unfold the bizarre Suicide King Killings. A reporter is taken captive by a mysterious homeless man who seems to know about a yet unrevealed conspiracy. A broken cop refuses to accept the spoon fed leads given to him by men in black suits. Glimpses of a man pulling all the strings are alluded to, but nothing is totally clear at this point.
Wire Hangers is 32 pages of advertisement-free twisted fun. Alan Robert shows off some bad-ass comic book making skills. It’s not perfect, but it’s keeping my interest.
3.5 out of 5
We Will Bury You #1 review
I was already looking forward to Choker when I walked into the comic book shop, so the Templesmith-esque cover of We Will Bury You from IDW caught my eye. The zombie cover, that is actually from the pencil of Ben Templesmith, is the highlight of the issue.
The story takes place in 1927 and the form-fitting collared shirt and pants outfit of our dykie heroin Fanya seem completely out-of-place, even if she is going for a manly look. Her Harry Potter glasses don’t seem to fit either. Fanya and her friend Mirah are drawn with clean, smooth lines. Every other character looks hairy, dirty and disgusting, often with distorted facial expressions. We haven’t even got to the zombies yet. This contrast is purposeful in creating an atmosphere and tone, but Kyle Strahm may have done the job too well as the characters are so vile and ugly that I barely want to look at the pages.
Yes, this is only the first issue, but I really can’t tell what direction Brea Grant and Zane Austin Grant are going to take this story. From what I can tell, the only two non-wretched beings is this city have a forbidden love, which will have to be put on hold while they deal with the zombie apocalypse.
In the end, this horse is slow coming out of the gate, but since it involves zombies, I’ll probably give issue #2 a chance.
2 out of 5
<
