Garveyverse 2017
Written by Matt Garvey
Illustrated by Dizevez
This is one of the benefits of having a website where you primarily do reviews because otherwise I wouldn’t have known about this little gem. Matt is from England and should you be interested, which I hope you will be, he’ll ship worldwide. This is also what I like to think of as that great example why you go to cons and hit up Artist Alley and meet, talk to and check out those people you don’t know who have comics on their table. You never know until you look but you could end up with a new favourite writer or artist.
Right off the bat this book opens up with a pretty good look at The Ether and his relationship with the police. It’s both cooperative as well antagonistic it’s one of those relationships where it may not made in heaven but both sides realise the importance of it so they huff and puff, see full of bluster, but in the end it boils down to understanding. Kind of reminds me of early Batman and his relationship with the GCPD and to be honest it’s kind of nice and refreshing. There’s tension there sure but there’s also that begrudged respect too.
When discovering someone new you go in with low expectations, it’s only natural having never experienced their work before. That being said after reading this issue I now have the highest of expectations from anything Matt and Dizevez do from here on out. The way the story is structured, the ebb and flow, the revelations and those key moment, see hooks, that grab then keep your attention are extremely well done. The characterisation here is phenomenal to see and you really get a sense for these people and like many of them. Yes even the scummy ones because every masked vigilante needs informants as well those they repeatedly let know they are watching them so keep it legal.
I’m a huge fan of Dizevez from her work here as well. I love the way this painted look comes across. Just when you think the whole thing is hand painted and then has digil work to enhance you realise the whole thing is more computer painted art and that makes it even more impressive. I wasn’t aware that they could work like this nowadays. The way she gets Ether’s mask to look like a map of the city is amazingly well done. Page layouts are utilised nicely through angles and perspective. The more backgrounds we see the better the overall effect, and the rain too was nicely done, so that we get a nice overall look, tone and feel at what’s going on throughout.
While we don’t get The Ether’s origin per se we do get a very good reason as to why he takes the actions he does. So that part of the backstory continues the damaged hero trope but instead of feeling like we’ve seen it before it comes across feeling right, natural. I like that there are no superpowers here just the mask and a suit and some sweet moves that take his opponents by surprise. So it really just relies upon the physical and mental faculties of The Ether to make it as effective as it is.
This is my first exposure to Matt and Dizevez (who does her first interior work here) and I'll wholeheartedly admit that i’m looking forward to long healthy careers from them. This is the kind of stuff you wish Batman still was, strong, powerful, angry and full that street level crime fighting.
You can find the book here http://mattgarvey.bigcartel.com/ along with the rest of the books Matt has to offer. My suggestion is to get em, enjoy and help promote comics that realise the potential of what we want them to be.