Frank #1 & #2
Broken Icon Comics 2016
Written by Eric watkins
Illustrated by Todd Beistel
Lettered by Justin Birch
Welcome to Frank’s life, or as the case may be his afterlife. See the Zombie Apocalypse came to town and Frank wasn’t one of the lucky ones. So join us as Frank watches himself stumble through his new life as one of the risen flesh eating dead.
I have never hidden my appreciation and love for the books Broken Icon puts out. With my first experience, I am STILL waiting for more Grocery Store Assassin, to this one I have been impressed with the work being done here. These guys work their arses off and hit convention after convention exposing everyone they can to their work. To me they are the “Little Engine that Could” which just endears them to me more.
From a page count perspective I feel like both issues here could be one but all things being what they are its still all good. There are two things about this you need to know about. The writing is exceptional and the interiors are abso-freakin-lutely amazing. So let’s break it down shall we? The opening for this is nicely done and when we hit the third page you are in like Flynn. The hook hits you like the stick used in the opening and the pleasant surprise that makes you smile and eyes widen just a bit lets you know we’re in for something fun and different.
Eric does a really nice job with how this is structured. There is a nice easy flow to the book and while yes we are dealing with zombies it really is a story driven venture. So in other words less scares and gore, more dialogue and shaking your head. It feels like it fits in the genre vein of Shaun of the Dead at least that’s how I would attempt to classify it. Also the characterisation is strong and on point as we quickly get to see what kind of man Frank was in life. Then there is the realisation of what’s happened and what is still possible and yeah I am not sure if I am rooting for him to live or not heh. The story & plot development here is great and it ties into all the above as it creates scenarios and introduces to this small cross section that is Frank’s world.
I am beyond super impressed with the work that Todd is doing on the interiors here. We all know black and white is a difficult medium that is not forgiving when it comes to showing off small mistakes but Todd doesn’t let that stop him and proves he is well suited to this style. The attention to detail here is extraordinary and the way we see Frank, either or, is something I wasn’t expecting and it freakin rocks man. I am a fan of how the panels are constructed, how backgrounds are utilised and the overall mood, tone and feel that Todd brings to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us this spectacular eye for storytelling. I really can’t get over just how good the varying weights of the linework are utilised here and I find myself stopping on pages just to admire them.
So by the end of the second issue we see how far Frank has managed to come in a short while and we see that there is at least some military still in action, though their thoughts on Frank made me laugh out loud! If you can’t make any conventions in the eastern part of the midwest then head over to www.brokeniconcomics.com and order some for yourself. Intelligent, Interesting and Insanely good interiors make this something you are going to thoroughly enjoy!
Broken Icon Comics 2016
Written by Eric watkins
Illustrated by Todd Beistel
Lettered by Justin Birch
Welcome to Frank’s life, or as the case may be his afterlife. See the Zombie Apocalypse came to town and Frank wasn’t one of the lucky ones. So join us as Frank watches himself stumble through his new life as one of the risen flesh eating dead.
I have never hidden my appreciation and love for the books Broken Icon puts out. With my first experience, I am STILL waiting for more Grocery Store Assassin, to this one I have been impressed with the work being done here. These guys work their arses off and hit convention after convention exposing everyone they can to their work. To me they are the “Little Engine that Could” which just endears them to me more.
From a page count perspective I feel like both issues here could be one but all things being what they are its still all good. There are two things about this you need to know about. The writing is exceptional and the interiors are abso-freakin-lutely amazing. So let’s break it down shall we? The opening for this is nicely done and when we hit the third page you are in like Flynn. The hook hits you like the stick used in the opening and the pleasant surprise that makes you smile and eyes widen just a bit lets you know we’re in for something fun and different.
Eric does a really nice job with how this is structured. There is a nice easy flow to the book and while yes we are dealing with zombies it really is a story driven venture. So in other words less scares and gore, more dialogue and shaking your head. It feels like it fits in the genre vein of Shaun of the Dead at least that’s how I would attempt to classify it. Also the characterisation is strong and on point as we quickly get to see what kind of man Frank was in life. Then there is the realisation of what’s happened and what is still possible and yeah I am not sure if I am rooting for him to live or not heh. The story & plot development here is great and it ties into all the above as it creates scenarios and introduces to this small cross section that is Frank’s world.
I am beyond super impressed with the work that Todd is doing on the interiors here. We all know black and white is a difficult medium that is not forgiving when it comes to showing off small mistakes but Todd doesn’t let that stop him and proves he is well suited to this style. The attention to detail here is extraordinary and the way we see Frank, either or, is something I wasn’t expecting and it freakin rocks man. I am a fan of how the panels are constructed, how backgrounds are utilised and the overall mood, tone and feel that Todd brings to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us this spectacular eye for storytelling. I really can’t get over just how good the varying weights of the linework are utilised here and I find myself stopping on pages just to admire them.
So by the end of the second issue we see how far Frank has managed to come in a short while and we see that there is at least some military still in action, though their thoughts on Frank made me laugh out loud! If you can’t make any conventions in the eastern part of the midwest then head over to www.brokeniconcomics.com and order some for yourself. Intelligent, Interesting and Insanely good interiors make this something you are going to thoroughly enjoy!
RSS Feed
