Star-Bolt #1
Jimmy Hachey's Star¥Bolt #1 Nerdanatix/Waterfront Studios 2020 Written by Peter Breau Pencilled & Lettered by Monique MacNaughton Inked by James Hachey Coloured by Dheeraj Dknoss Kumur Colour Assists by William Reid This is an ageless story of good vs evil. It's the story of epic good Tim a veteran who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save another and is transformed into the star-bolt the embodiment of good, This is the story of ultimate evil Uranium, an armoured Hitler clone who is drawn to the birthplace of general Patton. Here he searches for a mystic relic he has sought for over 70s years. What is uranium searching for? Can Tim, who is now wearing the starbolt armour defeat him? I am always looking for that new small or self-published book that may be the next big thing. Along the way I find some duds and some that are almost ready for prime time. This one falls somewhere along my sliding scale, it has some really great moments and it does harken back to a former era where comic building was started from the ground up. This has that tone and feel to it, something you see the potential and see the talent and want to watch it grow and evolve. As this is my introduction to this character and to this company/studio and what this issue does is make me want to see more and I like that about this. This is what the book should do, it should make you want to know about the world these characters live in. The story & plot development that we see here through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. The way we see the events unfold is really rather nice to see as we see Tim come home from his time in service to his country. There is some dialogue between the characters that does make me a tad uncomfortable and I wish there had some somewhere that Tim interjected with a correction of his mother assumptions. Actually throughout the book there is some questionable use of the words chosen and while everyone will not see and feel the same thing, which means some will gloss over and some will take pause, either way it's an experience unique to the reader. The character development we see is also kind of hit and miss for me. Tim is great and the scene where he is hanging with his friend yeah that's great and helps flesh him out some. I would like to see more though I feel like Peter is being a little timid and needs to let go of his fear and doubt and really let his talent take over. The pacing is nice and as it takes us through the pages we see the way it reveals the twists and turns and revelations helping to create a really nice ebb & flow. The interiors here are nice, they remind me of either old school or old indie style of art. The linework is great and the strength we see in how it's laid down and how the varying weights are utilised as well the various techniques utilised really give the work this wonderful character. One thing about this that I really really like is how full the panels feel and how backgrounds are being utilised. This brings us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a good, solid, eye for storytelling. The colour work is really nice to see as well. There is some wonderful utilisation of hues and tones within the colours utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work. I wish the entire issue had been about Starbolt and we'd have gotten an expanded view. I mean the second story was alright but I'm not keen on seeing a lot about religion in comics, especially when it's not the one I practice. While I didn't get a preachy vibe and on the whole it feels more supernatural mythology to me I really like that and hope that aspect continues. I want to see this grow and evolve. I can see the talent here and I can see the potential and the only way to see how it progresses is to keep reading the book. I am intrigued and the origin story is nicely told so it has all those little qualities that we don't normally see but feel when reading a book that make us enjoy it all the more. This is why I keep telling you all to give these books the support they need because a new generation of creators is here and needs your attention.
