Waxwork Comics 2018
Written by Matt Miner
Illustrated by Clay McCormack
Coloured by Doug Garbark
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
Long thought to be an urban legend in the underground music scene of Redondo Beach, POSER is back to carve a gory slash through the heart of Los Angeles.
Say what you will but when I read this the first thing that came to mind was Prom Night. One of the best Jamie Lee Curtis films to come out of that era. The opening here and what happens after that make it abundantly clear that is the style of storytelling that Matt is going for. It also happens to work extremely well in this case. I loved every moment of this issue and cannot wait to see how this whole thing is going to play out.
The opening here is so amazingly well done as Otto tries to join a group of kids, his peers, hanging out on the beach. I mean that’s what kids do right only Otto isn’t like other kids and that is made clear right away. A bit of story is told as one of the boys lists off groups he was seen trying to around with and the called him a Poser. Though Otto agreed to take two of them to the burger joint he works at to get them free food things seem to be off to a much rockier start for the lad. Regardless this is how you set something and how you create a mystique about it where you aren’t quite sure if what you witness is as final as you think.
The way that this is structured is extremely well done. I like the opening being the past and the catalyst for what’s to come and then we move to the present and the story starts. The introduction of characters is handled extremely well and it’s nice to see how the ebb & flow of this feels so naturally winding as babbling brook as it’s pretty, soothing and deceptively dangerous. There is this specific feeling you get while you read this and it’s one you immediate realise. Because let’s be honest I’ve been to one of their concerts back in the day and I do love me some Circle Jerks but the progression from them to the present is something we don’t see.
Clay and Doug do some really good, strong and exciting work on the interiors here. The attention to detail is amazingly strong and well done and the manipulation of the varying weights in the linework show off some strong moments that you might otherwise miss. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels brings us how good Clay’s eye for storytelling is. The way that backgrounds are utilised is pretty darn good, yes I'd like to see more after all if you use them in her dad’s record store keep that in every panel. Love the creativity and imagination in hairstyles and clothing choices and the fact that faces and facial expressions are so effective at helping the characterisation shine through.
This is off to what I feel is an amazing start. It also says a lot about the current market these days. With so many people fighting for their slice of pie you need to put out strong books or they’ll be ignored. Now with so many folks blindly buying on the big 2 or 3 is the reason why I love reviewing books like this one. With a decidedly throwback feel and some classic horror tropes coming into play alongside a solid story and excellent characterisation Matt tells this story exactly how it should be. Then with the folks on the interiors keeping their work as solid as the writing this should be one you are making sure your store carries.