Golden Apple Books 2018
On Sale August 29th 2018
Created & Written by Michael McMillian
Illustrated by Ryan Cody
Lettered by Micah Myers
Adventure Van is a comedy fantasy with an 80's movie vibe that jumps between the world of the modern day suburbs and a timeless fantasy realm called Bravas. Corey Biggs' life is going nowhere until his 21st birthday camping trip gets cut short when alien warriors, sent by Baal Maldage, the evil tyrant king of Bravas, abduct his friend, Billy, and spark a chain of events that sends Corey off on his hero's journey where he learns he's not just some kid from Kansas!
Part of doing what I do is that I get to read some very int4eresting and well done books. Sure they come with their fair share of dud’s but it all sees to balance out in the end. This is the second offering from Golden Apple that I have read and the second one I have been impressed with. Granted I had to look up who Michael was and once I realised he was that crazy Evangelist Steve on True Blood, who I had the biggest crush on btw, I was ecstatic to read this. Turns out the man is more talented than I had expected and now I still have a crush on him but for new reasons.
So it should come as no surprise that the 80’s are in again from Stranger Things to The Smurf’s everything old is new again. So the overall vibe from this book is totally 80’s to me down to his customized van (though that reminds me more of a cross between Scooby Doo and Supernatural) it’s the geek that shall inherit the earth, or at last try to reclaim another planet. What I think resonates with the reader is going to be how they see and perceive Corey. I’m pretty sure there isn’t anyone among us who at some point in their life wished they were going to find out they were royalty from another planet or would find out power or something else that separates them from everyone else. I know being adopted I had those daydreams all the time.
The way the story is structured is very well done. Right from the opening the writing and characterisation here is strong and fun. Though I question why Uncle Mars looks a lot like Stan Lee that’s another story altogether. Still there is a lot information that we get in this introduction that makes sense as we understand more and more. I think that’s actually pretty well done actually and adds this dimension things that you wouldn’t get otherwise. So kudos to Michael on his strong storytelling ability here.
The interiors here are pretty good. They fit an all-ages style of work so that’s cool, though I will say that the pic on the van inspired by Uncle Mars book yeah that’s the kicker it’s a total wow factor to see it in all it’s glory. There is a creativity and imagination that we see here that’s fantastic and how it’s brought to life by Ryan. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows of a great eye for storytelling. I wish we got to see more backgrounds in use here but other than that there’s really nothing to complain about where Ryan’s work is concerned.
Michael does an excellent job on the pacing of the story and how we learn what we need to for things to make sense. This is the first issue introduction to the characters, this world and the series and I don’t think anything about what we get here is not enough nor is it too much. We get just enough of everything to make us want to return next issue to see how things go. There’s humour, action/adventure and some surprising turn of events that make this one you’ll want to read. It isn’t too late tell your lcs to order yours now.