Road Crew #1
Reviewed by David O' Leary
ROAD CREW: FOR SALE #1
Story by: Tommie Kelly
Art by: Tommie Kelly
Letters by: Tommie Kelly
Cover by: Tommie Kelly
Cover Price: 3 euro/3.99 pounds
Reviewed By: David O' Leary
"Morrigan"
Tommie Kelly's long running web comic is making the leap into a bi-monthly print comic collecting the frequent strips that are on his site. To help with the format, Kelly has ditched the three panel format that is the norm for many strips and gone with a more traditional look that Kelly himself admitted was a risky venture as he threatened to alienate those who had been reading the strip already. But fortunately for all, that did not materialise and we now get the first issue producing the prologue and the first chapter in the new format.
The new course of the format caught me by surprise a bit as I was very used to the original three panel format but it didn't take long at all to catch onto it. The prologue starts off with Jim, our protagonist; meeting Tommie in a fourth wall breaker kind of situation where he convinces Jim that he is the person who controls Jim's life to a large degree. He tells Jim that he does not have an ending to Jim's story and that Jim has a habit of doing things on his own anyway. To make Jim a happy man, he has to kill off Jim's mother in an effort to exorcise baggage that she represents. Tommie tells Jim that he will not remember anything that they talked about and that Jim will put it down to a hangover. Now, anyone who reads Road Crew regularly knows that this is way too serious for what Road Crew usually is but I with the following episodes, it became apparent that the story was becoming a hugely coherent anf flowing tale leading up to Jim's discovery of his dead mother via a message from his long time absent father.
Chapter one starts off in an exhibition of photos taken by a roadie of all the musicians she was with over the years. One of which happened to be Jim's famous father. While staring at a picture of his father Jim's thoughts are interuppted by Morrigan, a beautiful girl who he ends up having sex with in a toilet. Classic rocker sex! While talking to Morrigan, Jim gets a call to say that his mother is sick and that his presence is needed. So ends the first chapter.
But it is while Jim and Morigan are sitting on the bench that a beautiful piece of story telling takes place. The book is predominately black and white and while the two are sitting talking to each other, for a few panels Morrigan is in colour while she is asking him if he had any wish in the world, what would it be as long as what he wished for would be in the future. To the reader we now know that it is Tommie asking Jim through Morrigan and when he answers the story returns to a black and white story again. That was a piece of genius and I loved it.
If you look at the early strips of Road Crew and what the production is like now there is a world of difference. The art is so much better and recently Tommie brought us through the process of how does it in an indepth process that was emailed to subscribers. My hat goes off to him as to how much more focused he seems to be on the strip, not that he wasn't before but this whole new direction has upped the level of quality to a previously unseen level.
It is Tommie's intention to eventually release a trade paper back of the material and it will look great. I wholly encourage all to find it where they can and check out the web site where there are regular new pages and you can subscribe by email and get them direct to your inbox. Highly recommended material.
Rating the Book
Story: Overall 9 |
Art: Overall 9 |
Importance: Overall 9 |
Take A Look Inside
Reviewer Bio
Name: David O' Leary
email: idwfan@yahoo.co.uk
Been reading comics: for about 12 years now.
Review Bio: I am a 26-year-old Hotel Manager from the west coast of the Republic of Ireland and think this is a great way to talk to others about this cool medium. I am a husband to one wife and father to one girl (so far).
Favorites: ONI's Whiteout, Vertigo's Scalped and Garth Ennis Preacher and Punisher in Trades. In comic form I am reading a lot of Marvel and a bit of IDW, Dark Horse & WildStorm among others.
Website: Sorry, I don't have one!
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