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Madefire: A New Kind of Reading
Madefire: A New Kind of Reading
Thanks to the advent of 21st century technology, comics is in a state of experimentation of the likes never before seen. While comic books have always undergone some level of boundary-pushing—the 1960s’ Underground Comix comes to mind—the medium is no longer confined to paper. Some may limit their understanding of this to more generalized reading experiences, such as tablets, but others recognize…
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Madefire: A New Kind of Reading
Madefire: A New Kind of Reading
Thanks to the advent of 21st century technology, comics is in a state of experimentation of the likes never before seen. While comic books have always undergone some level of boundary-pushing—the 1960s’ Underground Comix comes to mind—the medium is no longer confined to paper. Some may limit their understanding of this to more generalized reading experiences, such as tablets, but others recognize…
View On WordPress
Review: Madefire's Captain Stone is Missing... Episode 7
By Liam Sharp and Christina McCormack
Liam Sharp and Christina McCormack's exploration of superheroes, mass media culture, and gender dynamics through the first seven episodes of Captain Stone is Missing... has been a joy to read on many levels.
This story has taken it's time to develop what is truly working out to be a saga by developing each character eloquently and through novel experimentation in the narrative tools being employed by Sharp and McCormack.
At this point in the story, the reader has come to learn about the Captain's family and their respective roles in shaping him without giving away much about Captain Stone himself. He's an identity, and in some ways, a ghost in the machine of the plot.
As an analogy, his role in the story is reminiscent of Ozymandias and the Comedian because he works like the plot device that is Ozymandias, but has the gravity and ghost-like qualities of the Comedian by being seen only through the past-tense narrative eye.
He is only known through flashbacks and archival material, not in any sense the present. However, the shape of the story is starting to be seen more clearly at the end of this arc with Sharp and McCormack winding readers up for a far more compelling twist than most writers are currently capable of.
They leave this particular arc flipped and inverted on it head in regards to reader expectation. That's some fine misdirection worked in with red herrings that are hardly noticeable in the early episodes of the story. I was quite surprised with the development of the Captain Stone mythos in a way that was similar to Edward Norton's turn in Primal Fear (No psychopaths here though).
The sense of family, particularly the dysfunction that plagues even the most stable of families, also comes out in this episode with Sharp and McCormack more fully exploring the impact that these supernatural and unbelievable events have on each character's motivation and development.
Sharp's amazing artwork has provided an incredible sense of immediacy in engagement by using brilliant methods in telling this story from a visual sense. His approach has been unorthodox and experimental in terms of layout and the use of the Motion Book tool.
He takes his influences like Frank Frazetta, Jim Lee, and Bill Sienkiewicz and makes them his own by crafting his art into a brilliance that reflects his personality as a writer and artist. This is especially evident with each individual character in the story.
Charlie Chance, The Craven Panther, and Captain Stone all have a unique visual identity that allows the story to move around more freely in the timespace of the narrative. We often remember things and events within our lives in a unique way and feel in terms of atmosphere. Sharp really captures this every time the narrative jumps around in the story.
Overall, Episode 7 of Captain Stone is Missing... really pleased me on an intellectual and artistic level. There is a complexity to it that remains easily accessible and inviting to readers wishing for an evolved visual narrative.
4.5 out of 5 Stars.
Best Digital Only Comic of 2013
I rated this as a three-way tie between Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin's The Private Eye, Liam Sharp's Captain Stone is Missing..., and Liam Sharp and Ben Wolstenholme's Mono. The Private Eye has impeccable storytelling and visual craft with its wonderfully unique look into the future. Captain Stone is Missing... provides boundless invention with narrative and visual sequences in its slow burn storytelling meant to engage the reader for the long run. Mono is wonderfully scripted with its outstanding exposition while providing fierce and fluid visual narratives that continue to showcase what digital comics are capable of.
But there can be only one and it goes to Liam Sharp for Captain Stone is Missing... because it has such a beautiful self-awareness while innovating and elevating the visual medium through the use of technology. I'm really interested to see how Sharp shepherds this story over the coming year. It's really a tour-de-force for him as a writer and artist.
Honorable mention: Tim Gibson for Moth City, Brian K. Vaughan & Marcos Martin's The Private Eye, and Liam Sharp & Ben Wolstenholme's Mono.
Madefire continue to craft the most interesting, visually stunning digital comics out there. My review of the first five chapters of Captain Stone is Missing can be read over at Den of Geek!
