Al Harahap
Mar 27, 2004, 11:21 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0304/KineticCVR1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0304/KineticCVR1t.jpg" align=left alt="Kinetic #1"></a>Reviewer: Al Harahap, al_harahap@comixfan.cjb.net
Quick Rating: Great!
Story Title: "Superzero"
Meet Tom Morell, local freak with absolutely no reason to live…
Writer: Kelley Puckett
Artist: Warren Pleece
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Colourist: Brian Haberlin
Editor: Matt Idelson
Special Thanks to: Andy Helfer
Kinetic created by: Allen Heinberg and Kelley Puckett
Main themes: Self-worth, being alive, suicidal tendency, apathy.
Check this out if you like: Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling, Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Stephen King's Carrie.
So I'm reading this issue on the crapper, just like I do with many other single-issue books (my trade paperbacks get the V.I.P. treatment in the bedroom). And I thought to myself, this is the deepest read I've had in a long time. For those who missed out on last month's Focus premier series, Hard Time (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25606), you may want to snatch up the imprint's second title. Kinetic is about Tom Morell, a teenage angst-ridden high school freak, who's riddled with illnesses galore, from diabetes to hemophilia - you name it, he's got it. He's stuck with a strict regimen of medicine and injections that he must follow to simply live the next few hours. Combined with his wimpy posture, sounds like every other outcast story out there. So what makes this one different? From the lost gosling in The Ugly Duckling, to its more modern counterparts, we've always had a fascination with the social outcast archetype. But rarely is it ever done in comic book format past surface characterisations of the foreigner, the mutant, or the physically deformed, that usually must give way to the rush of whatever action or mystery is abound. Whereas scribe Kelley Puckett (Batgirl, Batman: Black and White, Batman Adventures) penetrates right into the core of this archetype.
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_1t.jpg" align=right alt="Kinetic #1"></a>This first issue may be formulaic, but Puckett does wonders with delving into the main character's mind and soul. Puckett makes certain that Tom is relatable to the majority of readers of American comics. Right from the get-go, he is reading - wouldn't you know it - a comic book on the crapper. Tom Morell does have the demographical fallacy of being a middle-class, white, heterosexual, male. Snore... So you might argue that he isn't a very original character at all. Nevertheless, the broader sense of relatability works in the book's favour, and Puckett continues to pull the reader into Tom from there on in. He's not cool or hip like the typical teen is pressured to being. He's picked on at school for being different. He's socially inadequate, especially when it comes to love. And he has a difficult time finding any reason to continue the monotony of day-to-day life. This then becomes the source of his suicidal tendencies, which are more subconscious than any melodramatically motivated attempts we often see in the media. It's not so much from the overwhelming rejection by society, but rather the lack of a reason to live that he is unable to find. There's a strong existentialist motif all throughout, not just because of the apparent life and living topics, but also because of Tom's struggle with the conflicting personal thoughts and actions versus the normality of society around him. Forget happiness, Tom has a hard time finding mere contentment.
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_2t.jpg" align=left alt="Kinetic #1"></a>In fact, his speech and body language remain somewhat flat throughout the issue - as is required to portray his virtual death or rather "non-living." Much thanks in part to artist Warren Pleece (Deadenders, The Invisibles, Hellblazer), who couldn't be more suitable for this title. Pleece's Tom screams average, just like he should. You can actually feel Tom's death in the cold blank stares that Pleece provides him. And the everyday urban setting is, too, the perfect subject for an artist of Pleece's style. The "camera" perspective is used just right throughout the issue - mostly panels with straight composition to complement the script's everydayness and Tom's apathy, but a sudden change in zoom and/or angle for dramatic effect when the situation calls for it.
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_3t.jpg" align=right alt="Kinetic #1"></a>There are a couple of strong, standout scenes throughout the issue. The first, when a new teacher asks that Tom raise his right hand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Tom tries to explain how his right hand is paralysed or "dead" - yet another representation of his inner death - but the simpleton teacher just doesn't seem to understand. The ensuing explosion of emotion then catapults Tom into being a three-dimensional character. The second, when Tom neglects his scheduled medicine in order to spend time with a potential love interest. For the first time, Puckett shows the reader the consequences of Tom's illness and what happens when he doesn't follow his strict regimen. It ain't pretty. Blood, sweat, vomit, urine - let's just leave it at that.
This then brings me to my last few points. Let's compare Kinetic to the first Focus series, Hard Time, and just get it off our chests already.
If you read Hard Time, you might be rather disappointed to find that Kinetic has many similarities. The protagonists could be the same person, they're both high school outcasts with similar backgrounds, their attitudes and motivations are similar. Furthermore, Tom's "powers" are not revealed in this first issue. Which is kind of a let-down when you consider the imprint's slogan: Superpowers, Not Superheroes. The notion of a realistic approach at powers is what makes the Focus line so interesting. But here, it's all realistic, and no powers. Of course, I'm being impatient, because Puckett will show Tom's "powers" sooner or later, possibly even next issue. But its absence here doesn't make the strong first impression that it needs. I understand the intent - develop the character and set up his life story before introducing the "powers" element. But for such gradual pacing, there's no reason why they couldn't have made this a double-sized first issue at regular price, like they do for - ironically - titles that don't need the promotion. Maybe with that amount of pages, Puckett would've had the necessary medium to make Tom's story more appealing.
If you didn't check out the first Focus series, Kinetic is a good place to start. This series has a deeper, and even more intense, characterisation of its protagonist than the other series. In fact, where Hard Time is more concerned with current social problems of society, here, Kinetic focuses more on the individual victim and his perspective. I hope that distinction helps in which one better suits your tastes. And if you have the funds and inclination, you may even want to check out both as this contrast makes them great complementary reads with each other.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1133&cat=KINETIC)
Quick Rating: Great!
Story Title: "Superzero"
Meet Tom Morell, local freak with absolutely no reason to live…
Writer: Kelley Puckett
Artist: Warren Pleece
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Colourist: Brian Haberlin
Editor: Matt Idelson
Special Thanks to: Andy Helfer
Kinetic created by: Allen Heinberg and Kelley Puckett
Main themes: Self-worth, being alive, suicidal tendency, apathy.
Check this out if you like: Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling, Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Stephen King's Carrie.
So I'm reading this issue on the crapper, just like I do with many other single-issue books (my trade paperbacks get the V.I.P. treatment in the bedroom). And I thought to myself, this is the deepest read I've had in a long time. For those who missed out on last month's Focus premier series, Hard Time (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25606), you may want to snatch up the imprint's second title. Kinetic is about Tom Morell, a teenage angst-ridden high school freak, who's riddled with illnesses galore, from diabetes to hemophilia - you name it, he's got it. He's stuck with a strict regimen of medicine and injections that he must follow to simply live the next few hours. Combined with his wimpy posture, sounds like every other outcast story out there. So what makes this one different? From the lost gosling in The Ugly Duckling, to its more modern counterparts, we've always had a fascination with the social outcast archetype. But rarely is it ever done in comic book format past surface characterisations of the foreigner, the mutant, or the physically deformed, that usually must give way to the rush of whatever action or mystery is abound. Whereas scribe Kelley Puckett (Batgirl, Batman: Black and White, Batman Adventures) penetrates right into the core of this archetype.
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_1t.jpg" align=right alt="Kinetic #1"></a>This first issue may be formulaic, but Puckett does wonders with delving into the main character's mind and soul. Puckett makes certain that Tom is relatable to the majority of readers of American comics. Right from the get-go, he is reading - wouldn't you know it - a comic book on the crapper. Tom Morell does have the demographical fallacy of being a middle-class, white, heterosexual, male. Snore... So you might argue that he isn't a very original character at all. Nevertheless, the broader sense of relatability works in the book's favour, and Puckett continues to pull the reader into Tom from there on in. He's not cool or hip like the typical teen is pressured to being. He's picked on at school for being different. He's socially inadequate, especially when it comes to love. And he has a difficult time finding any reason to continue the monotony of day-to-day life. This then becomes the source of his suicidal tendencies, which are more subconscious than any melodramatically motivated attempts we often see in the media. It's not so much from the overwhelming rejection by society, but rather the lack of a reason to live that he is unable to find. There's a strong existentialist motif all throughout, not just because of the apparent life and living topics, but also because of Tom's struggle with the conflicting personal thoughts and actions versus the normality of society around him. Forget happiness, Tom has a hard time finding mere contentment.
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_2t.jpg" align=left alt="Kinetic #1"></a>In fact, his speech and body language remain somewhat flat throughout the issue - as is required to portray his virtual death or rather "non-living." Much thanks in part to artist Warren Pleece (Deadenders, The Invisibles, Hellblazer), who couldn't be more suitable for this title. Pleece's Tom screams average, just like he should. You can actually feel Tom's death in the cold blank stares that Pleece provides him. And the everyday urban setting is, too, the perfect subject for an artist of Pleece's style. The "camera" perspective is used just right throughout the issue - mostly panels with straight composition to complement the script's everydayness and Tom's apathy, but a sudden change in zoom and/or angle for dramatic effect when the situation calls for it.
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/kinetic1_3t.jpg" align=right alt="Kinetic #1"></a>There are a couple of strong, standout scenes throughout the issue. The first, when a new teacher asks that Tom raise his right hand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Tom tries to explain how his right hand is paralysed or "dead" - yet another representation of his inner death - but the simpleton teacher just doesn't seem to understand. The ensuing explosion of emotion then catapults Tom into being a three-dimensional character. The second, when Tom neglects his scheduled medicine in order to spend time with a potential love interest. For the first time, Puckett shows the reader the consequences of Tom's illness and what happens when he doesn't follow his strict regimen. It ain't pretty. Blood, sweat, vomit, urine - let's just leave it at that.
This then brings me to my last few points. Let's compare Kinetic to the first Focus series, Hard Time, and just get it off our chests already.
If you read Hard Time, you might be rather disappointed to find that Kinetic has many similarities. The protagonists could be the same person, they're both high school outcasts with similar backgrounds, their attitudes and motivations are similar. Furthermore, Tom's "powers" are not revealed in this first issue. Which is kind of a let-down when you consider the imprint's slogan: Superpowers, Not Superheroes. The notion of a realistic approach at powers is what makes the Focus line so interesting. But here, it's all realistic, and no powers. Of course, I'm being impatient, because Puckett will show Tom's "powers" sooner or later, possibly even next issue. But its absence here doesn't make the strong first impression that it needs. I understand the intent - develop the character and set up his life story before introducing the "powers" element. But for such gradual pacing, there's no reason why they couldn't have made this a double-sized first issue at regular price, like they do for - ironically - titles that don't need the promotion. Maybe with that amount of pages, Puckett would've had the necessary medium to make Tom's story more appealing.
If you didn't check out the first Focus series, Kinetic is a good place to start. This series has a deeper, and even more intense, characterisation of its protagonist than the other series. In fact, where Hard Time is more concerned with current social problems of society, here, Kinetic focuses more on the individual victim and his perspective. I hope that distinction helps in which one better suits your tastes. And if you have the funds and inclination, you may even want to check out both as this contrast makes them great complementary reads with each other.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/focnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1133&cat=KINETIC)