If? Commix 2014
Created & Written by Matt Kyme
Illustrated by Arthur Strickland
Well here we go with another teenage superhero story so what’s going to set this one apart from the rest? For starters this one starts off with breakfast and a mother complaining to her son that the Crusader has another sidekick, though for some reason the ek are missing making it sid™kick i never knew that the word sidekick was trademarked seeing as how prevalently it’s used. Well this is one parent who doesn’t think teenagers should be costumed heroes that’s abundantly clear.
Thirty years ago two brothers one who I think fought on the side of good the other well I guess we’d call it evil, though that’s a subjective term, caused quite the stir the good breaking the bad from the sentencing of the Tribunal and seeking refuge elsewhere. Elsewhere being with the Kreea in this case. What this has to do with the current situation I have no clue it’s an odd flashback that seemingly doesn’t tie into anything other than the mention of the Tribunal whomever they happen to be. Still could we see these two again it’s possible as they seem to be from a long lived race of beings.
Fickling Secondary College year 11 lies ahead for Piker and his friends, Piker’s the boy from the kitchen table and his classmates where he was all summer and why he wasn’t at the pre-school party. What was he doing well he was off being the teenage sid™ick his wasn’t happy about being in the paper. How do you keep this kind of thing a secret from you own mom and all your friends well I guess Matt will be exploring that as the series continues and I look forward to his take on it.
We meet the school bully and the new girl this issue along with his friends and what could be his love interest or future girlfriend. Seems we don’t see much of him in class or what kind of student he is at this time but i’m holding out hope he’s not a slacker or class clown I mean he doesn’t have to be really smart but i’d hope he was at least trying. Oh we also meet one of his teachers who also happens to be the Crusader. Now what the heck how many sid™icks does this man have or even need? Actually there’s a lot of use for ™ here and i’m not sure why hopefully someone can explain that to me because it’s a little weird.
We meet one of the Crusader’s villains this issue and apparently she’s trying to destroy the environment as quickly as possible and her moniker is Monochrome. We’ll be seeing more of her and her scheming next issue.
Okay there a few gaps in the storytelling but so far it’s interesting enough that you want to come back and learn more about these folks. I can see potential in Matt’s writing that will be honed over time and practice and what he’s got is pretty solid it just needs a tad bit of editing and such to better explain the characters and such. The whole how did Picker become a sid™ick is more than likely something we’ll learn over time which is great because it does build the mystique behind him. I’m kind of excited to see him grow as a writer and figure it out as he goes along and the ideas and things here are solid so props for that and first issue that leaves the reader wanting to know more.
Art’s interior work isn’t bad either. Again with some practice and patience getting body angles right in certain positions to make them look well real(ish) will come but he’s also laying some really nice groundwork and showcasing he’s got more than a modicum of talent. I like that he’s able to make them look like teenagers verging on adulthood keeping the faces recognizable from page to page so we know who’s who without having to look for a name. The body proportions and musculature are solid and while there may be a glitch here and there he’s really very talented.
i love finding new books and this one from Australia has what I love in a solid premise, nice story development, some nice characterization but lots of wiggle room for things to be tweaked and revealed. Along with some solid interiors that will clean up with practice, the inking on page 11 for example is at times just too thick in places but hey that minor quibbling, this is a promising start and hope y’all will give the chance it deserves and ya never know this could be the next Invincible.