
Amigo Comics 2016
Written & Illustrated by Stefano Martino
English Adaptation by El Torres
Lettered by Malaka Studio
ALAN DRACON, bodyguard, has discovered that his latest contract involves a lot of headaches: his feelings for corporate bio-engineer Oni, Doctor Harkell’s bizarre biocreation, not to mention the Yakuza who want to see him nothing short of DEAD.
I’m such a fan of this book! It takes the old school Private Dick Noir feel (with military superhero training) mixes it with Japanese Kaiju to create this whole new subgenre of science fiction that is unique, original and thoroughly entertaining.
The opening is very Alice In Wonderland and that alone intrigues me as we get to meet Kanoo. As we very quickly learn she’s not what we think she is and that kind of makes chills run down the spine as she’s very much an agent of Mishima. Plus her entrance in the now is just one heck of a wow moment! I’m looking forward to seeing what her role in this will become and how she and Alan will facing off down the road.
Meanwhile I’m super impressed with the storytelling here. The pacing of the story goes very fast and yet it doesn’t have that glossed over feeling. Alan’s very good at what he does and while he’s been assigned to protect Oni from Doctor Karkell it seems that this job is one that has farther reaching implications than he realizes. Not just on a personal level either but that aspect and his feelings, not to mention his inner dialogue where he feels he’d change for her, but with the Yakuza and their assessment of him in action as well.
With this job completed this issue, for details you have to read the issue, what’s Alan going to do next? He’s very much on Mishima’s radar for what he’s been doing here and that means trouble. I like that this mini-story inside a story is used as a set-up for us to get to know him. Also it leaves a whole world of exploration open for future stories, I mean his training alone would be something I want to see and that he’s as fast as he is without enhancements yeah that’s something. There is so much more to him than meets the eye, which admittedly is not hard to do considering he seems like a drunk bodyguard.
The black and white interiors here are phenomenal. They are so expressive and the linework so clean and crisp it’s hard to miss any of the intended emotion on the page. Stefano’s eye for storytelling is brilliant as he utilizes the flow of the pages and panels with angles, perspective and use of backgrounds. His is the kind of talent you discover and want to devour everything he’s ever done. Oh and now I need a Alan, sans helmet, full body figure for my collection he’s that good.
This really is can’t miss writing, dialogue, characterization and story material. This takes the old B movie cliches and makes them A+ level entertainment in ways you’d never thought they could reach.