Kickback

Ok faithful readers, I've got a new thing for you. While I am sure you know that I usually use this spot to review some comics, I'm going to try something new for a bit. We will be doing reviews with two of our staff contributing to them. Kind of like an Ebert and Ropert type of thing. This week Elizabeth and I are doing David Lloyd's (V For Vendetta) new book Kickback. Nick and I have another one planned for next week, and then I think he and Elizabeth are doing one together also. So it won't always be the same reviewers, nor the same genre's of books.

So, without further ado, here is what Elizabeth had to say about Kickback:


If you're a film noir buff and love great art, Kickback may be up your alley. David Lloyd does an amazing job on the art in this book, though the story is somewhat incoherent and the characters are sometimes lacking in dimension and development. This short book has a great deal of potential, and at times feels like it could be fleshed out into something bigger. If I could change one thing about Kickback, it would be the way the story transitions and jumps between scenes. While I see what Lloyd was trying to accomplish, it too often falls short and is disorienting to a reader. Smoother jumps could have probably been achieved relatively easily. Despite this and other problems, I really enjoyed the gritty feel of this detective mystery about a corrupt city police force, and one officer's struggle. It's flawed in many ways, but definitely worth a read if you're looking for a good mystery, or just something a lot different from all the Civil War titles you've been reading lately.


Very nice, eh? Well, I can't say as that I really have much of an argument with anything there. The art is amazing, world's ahead of what he was doing back in the good old Vendetta days. I have seen many artists (Byrne, Lee) whose work has not changed at all in the past ten or more years, but Lloyd has obviously really put some work in here. Both the line work and the coloring really stand out, and even remind me of some more modern artists like Sean Phillips(Sleeper). That said, it can be very muddy at times, often relying on the text to identify characters for us.

I don't agree that it could have been something bigger, just maybe a little longer. There were scenes that could have used a little more exposition, and most of the characters were pretty one dimensional. Surprisingly, the characters that I felt had the most depth, or at least were properly fleshed out were many of the supporting characters, especially the main characters girlfriend.

And yes, many a time when it moved from one scene to the next it was unclear what had just happened. He does a lot of stuff off camera actually. Like on Star Trek when the Enterprise is surrounded by hostile ships who open fire right as they go to commercial. Then when they come back the Enterprise is sitting in the middle of a small debris field and the Captain says "Boy, that was a close one, I don't know how we got through that". That's fine for TV, well, not really, but in comics we should see the fight, or the beating in this case. It's not like you have to save money on the special effects budget.

So, overall? I give it a C+. Good, but it could have been better. If you are a fan of Lloyd's art though, I would consider this a must buy. Alright, peace, we out!

-Dan & Elizabeth