[COMIC REVIEW] Something Real #1
Something Real #1
Release: May 2018
Writer: Joey Turnage
Artist: Ian Miller
Letterers: Ian Miller
Colouring: Fredrik Mattsson
Publisher: Independent
Rating: 4 Soda Cans
rates Comics out of a potential 6 pack of Soda Cans – the score indicates the value of each release in Sodas.
Something Real #1 paints a world of dark adolescent horror.
Creator and writer Joey Turnage scribes an era-less world where the stuff of nightmares is commonplace. Introducing the reader to an invasion meets poltergeist scene within the first few pages. The assumed protagonist, Allen, an overweight and pimply pre-teen, sets the tone of the first issue. From the undertone of his anxiety riddled stereotype through to the pacing of his abduction into the shadow dimension.
The first issue of Something Real deals with a town, a kid named Philly, his mom and the schoolyard bully. A simple premise if ever you’ve heard any. The story itself hangs no head in the noose of pre-established timelines. Something Real bears no ownership to a specific decade. There are no computers, no cell phones. Assume, if you will, the story begins pre-millennial generation.
Something Real #1 continues post Allen’s abduction. With the introduction of the protagonist, Philly, we are introduced to the world of middle school. A world in where he is victimised and bullied daily to the point of criminally insane. We’ve all been bullied but not everyone’s been stabbed. Spoilers. The gravity of insane is quantified only by the insecurities of Philly’s mom. Insecurities that introduce her as continuing a post-mortem with her dead husband. Ghost sex is all the rage.
Without spoiling the closure of this chapter, MVP for Something Real issue #1 is easily Allen. The pimply faced sore excuse for a middle schooler links the events and themes of the book. The awkward personality quirks are matched only by the appropriate pacing in each abduction scene. You will find more in common with the House movie franchise than you will other comic books. Something Real reads well and injects an aura of the kind of fun you experienced as a child. For longevity, I’d like to see a bit more humour thrown into the mix.
Issue #2 of Something Real will be running a campaign on Indiegogo to make the next instalment a reality. Head to Indiegogo from the 30th August to show your support.
Writer, reviewer, whatever.