Review - McBlack Act 1; The Art of Making Friends.Review by Paul Fiander
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Script/Pencils/Lettering; Jason Franks
Inks/Finishes; Dave Gutierrez Cover by; Ron Salas Published by; Black Glass Press |
McBlack is a continuing series from writer Jason Franks. Act 1 constitutes the first part. We will be bringing you the rest of the series in the weeks to come.
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The fourth wall is an interesting idea. It depicts the an imaginary barrier between the reader. and the subject on the page. This wall is a flexible thing in some works and an iron curtain in others. Writer and artist Jason Franks tends towards the former with his creation Whiteface McBlack. His occasional digressions into explaining the story or occasional quips that refer to a page number give the character an air of self awareness without it being completely overdone.
Narration from McBlack brings us into the start of the tale as its happening. This kind of present tense story has a noir feeling to it and it works well with the overall tone of comic. We don't get a lot of backstory for our central figure except the he has gone from being Private Detective to a thug and assassin. The lack of previous knowledge helps in some of the story developments but I do feel there may well be fuller disclosure as the story goes on. For now we just have to be happy with a touch of mysticism in our leading man's backstory. |
The Font Cover of the Comic
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As for the story we find McBlack being hired to hunt down a missing ex-husband in the name of revenge. This catapults us into a strange world where heavily armed gangs appear to be everywhere with names that make the mind boggle. The world is an unbelievable place and by that I mean far fetched. Personally I don't see this a s a bad thing, but I can see it as the comics Marmite moment. If this is too much for you probably best to lay the comic down and walk away.
The story feels very tongue in cheek and read that way I think it's a great romp. For those looking for a deeper experience I'm not sure you are going to find what you're looking for. This story is probably not for everyone but then universality can be overrated. The mixture of technology, violence and the breakdown of parts of civilisation mixed with our quippy lead make McBlack at least for me a great place to be.
The story feels very tongue in cheek and read that way I think it's a great romp. For those looking for a deeper experience I'm not sure you are going to find what you're looking for. This story is probably not for everyone but then universality can be overrated. The mixture of technology, violence and the breakdown of parts of civilisation mixed with our quippy lead make McBlack at least for me a great place to be.
The Comic is available in Purchase please follow this link for further details.
Wrap Up
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The Good - Clever use of fourth wall, Great Romp,
The Bad - Not sure it will have universal appeal |
Score - 4/5 |
Images courtesy of publisher
Comic - Recieved from publisher
Comic - Recieved from publisher
