Boom! Studios 2016
Written by Dennis Hopeless, Ross Thibodeaux
Rob Schamberger & Derek Fridolfs
Illustrated by Dan Mora, Rob Schamberger,
Daniel Bayliss & Derek Fridolfs
I’ve never been a fan of the WWE so I don’t know a whole lot about it other than all the talk of being entertainment and not “real” that people like to talk about. So right off the bat I doubt i’m the target audience for this but I did rather enjoy the last WWE series that I read that really just used the characters and put them into another situation outside the ring. So I was okay giving this a shot and the first story is the one that really caught my attention.
Seth Rollins who created a group called the Shield and his two brothers take the spotlight. It’s a very well done story and it spotlights the characters nicely and it gives us some background information on the trio while simultaneously bringing a story that has some intrigue to it. The characterisation is nice and if this is how the boys act then I’m even more impressed and I have to wonder if this done through research, being a WWE fan or having to watch it or interview them.
The interiors for this one are great I like the attention to detail here, the crisp sharp lines and whole look and feel of the story. The use of page layouts with angles, perspective and backgrounds here are really well done. The use of the tattoo’s and the hard bodies look great and not overdone.
This is the story i’d be more prone to follow and read about it’s got all the elements to it that take this to a new level of interest.
I have no idea what the second story is supposed to be about but it has unicorns, rainbows and all kind of weirdness. It’s silly and well I dunno,
There’s a story about Eddie Guerrero and his inspiration of a young woman to go into the business and it’s sweet and well done. It looks painted and it’s very well done. I like the inspiration he caused in Sasha Banks and her story about breaking into the business and in return her inspiring another little girl to want to do this when she grows up. It’s just a nice uplifting tale that has some splendid interior artwork.
There’s a very old animated style story here that kind of crosses Brutus, from Popeye with Steamboat Willie in how it looks and feels. This sets off a bunch of single page stories that appeared at SDCC 2016. So it’s nice bonus material when it was announced that Boom would be putting this series out starting in January of 2017.
You don’t have to be a fan of the WWE to enjoy this but if you are you really will enjoy this is you’ve ever wondered why a wrestling themed comic give it a shot and see what it’s about. There’s real stories here that have a good impact and is worth the time.