Reasonably Priced Comics #5 Review

We get an advanced look at Reasonably Priced Comics #5 (due out April 11th).  Click “More” to find out more about this anthology book!

Reasonably Priced Comics #5

Voyaga: “Life in Colors”

Now that Dean Kirkland has come to the tribe of the “Nahsa” he’s been given a new moniker, “Voyaga”.  He’s taken in and praised, not as a god, but as a classical hero figure like a Robin Hood or King Arthur.  He’s told the legend the Nahsa has given him – a great hero who is being sent to the stars to live forever only to be kept earthbound by the great Sky God “Omaghaw” to continue his adventures when he finally reawakens.  While all the Nahsa see “Voyaga” as a hero, Quent, the young “half-breed” warrior that Dean’s had a run-in with earlier, continues his campaign to rid the world of this supposed hero.

One of the things I really like about this story from writer Brandon Barrows is how he uses recognizable ideas and molds it into a classically pulp sci-fi story.  It’s a little bit Twilight Zone in basis and very Silver Age comics in execution.  It’s a little bit more than even that.  Barrows uses the idea of folk heroes that we all recognize like the references to Robin Hood or King Arthur and how we elevate those figures to heroic status without paying any attention to the fact that if those characters were real, or at the very least based on real people, they likely weren’t entirely great people.  In other words, if King Arthur was a real person, he likely had to slaughter his way to a “unified” England.  Robin Hood was still a thief and we would only pay attention to his giving nature.  We know Dean Kirkland a little better, but Dean’s own inner dialog explains how difficult this status would be for anyone, and that brings the whole idea of hero worship home.  On top of that, he also uses the classic idea of the changing of words and expressions for future civilizations is just classic.  ”Nahsa” from NASA, and “Omaghaw” from either “Oh my God” or Omega is just base simple and entertaining.

Visually, I really like what Ionic brings.  At first, I saw the overly simplistic pencils and wasn’t sure to think, but almost immediately after that initial thought, the art and story began to meld, and I was able to get it.  Ionic draws the story almost, for a lack of a better term, like cave drawings or visual depictions of civilizations trying to convey in pictures what they can’t describe in words.  I began seeing this story from the point of view of the Nahsa.  Here’s this mythical figure and almost everything he’s doing feels iconic or bigger than life.  The more I saw it play out the more I thought it was truly brilliant.

The first “book” of Voyaga comes to a close and I’m hoping we get to see more of Kirkland’s adventures soon!

The Perfect Moment

Meet Sunman, member of the Freedom Team.  For the past two years, he’s been dating teammate Lady Luck and the moment for him to pop the question is here.  But when two heroes on the premiere super team in the world need a quiet moment alone, do they get it?  No, of course not!  At every turn, Sunman’s attempts to finally ask Lady Luck to marry him is met with whatever new threat has come along.  Just when he thinks he has his perfect moment, will it all work out as he hopes?

Writer Alex De-Gruchy and artist Mike Kennedy gives us a comedic entry in this issue that has a little bit of parody, a little bit of satire, and some toilet humor to boot.  Kennedy’s art makes me think of how Mad Magazine or Cracked would have drawn superheroes in one of their parodies.  They are overly muscled, not terribly realistic, and in some ways, kinda gross.  Lady Lady luck reminds me of one of those bodybuilder ladies, and, right from the start, I hoped there wouldn’t be a scene in which Sunman was going to have a wardrobe malfunction.  The one thing that had me laugh out loud for a solid thirty seconds?  The hero “Five O’Clock Shadow”, a scruffy guy in a shirt and tie.  Personally, that was brilliant.

Laces: “Dead Don’t Talk”

What began as Sarah and her boyfriend, John, visiting her grandmother in an old folks’ home has taken a strange and horrific turn.  A month after Sarah’s mysterious disappearance, her grandmother passed away.  Grief stricken by everything that has taken place, John continues to visit her grandmother’s grave site.  One day, he realizes that half the graveyard seems to have been dug up.  Upon further investigation from an old book Sarah possessed, John begins to realize that ghouls may be at fault for everything that has happened…

Way back in issue #1 of Reasonably Priced Comics, the first part of Laces went down detailing the original problems of Sarah’s grandmother’s missing shoelaces and the creepy dead kids that seemed to be at fault.  Sarah’s disappearance also played out when she literally disappeared in front of John’s eyes.  This second part features a new artist, Martinho Abreu, a new direction for Martin Brandt II’s tale, and an overall different feel.  While Silvina Rinaldi’s first part had a very Asian influenced look, Abreu’s second part has a darker feel to it.  When going back to review the first part to catch myself up with this one feels almost like sequels instead of a second part.  A second part would have had a continued mood or feel to it.  This seems to have shifted more into embracing the actual genre that’s in use here.  That’s not a negative thing at all.  In fact, this second part’s darker script and darker toned art is definitely a welcome shift.  I’d like to see where John’s search for Sarah, and his new found importance to others having similar issues as he had, takes us.

Happenstance: “Rain”

The final story in this extra-sized issue of Reasonably Priced Comics comes from writer Brandon Barrows and artist Rowel Roque.  It is just a single page tale about a man who seems a little out of sorts asking those in an outdoor cafe if they like “the rain”.  It is definitely a little different from the rest of the stories.  The obvious difference is that “Happenstance” is just a one page strip instead of a multi-page story, but there’s a tone to it that I can’t quite put my finger on.  This ill-adjusted guy is simply happy that there’s rain and it trumps his need for anything else.  That might seem weird, but there might be something a little more to it.  I’m not sure, but it definitely feels somewhat personal.  It’s maybe as if Barrows actually experienced this and it’s stuck with him.  I may be wrong about that, but I can say it does offer a little punch to the end of this book.  Plus, Roque’s art is really nice and in just one page, you get enough detail that you feel like you’re there on that street and you’re looking at this man that reminds me a great deal of Mr. Bojangles coming up to you and just asking you a simple question meaning no harm at all.

To learn more about Reasonably Priced Comics, visit their website by clicking here. To find out how you can get a copy of this particular comic, go here.

Tags: Anthology Comics Independent Comics Reasonably Priced Comics