As
our loyal readers know I have recently become an official reviewer
for Zenescope Comics. This means that I receive PDF copies of
everything that they release. Obviously I can’t personally review
everything that they release, but as long as I hit a certain number
each quarter they’re cool with it.
In
this Comic Book Wednesday I’m taking a look at The
Little Mermaid
#1. It’s available today at your Local Comic Book Shop, so ask for
it now!
Joe
Brusha
Writer
Meredith
Finch
Artwork
Miguel
Mendonca
Colors
Ivan
Nunes
Letters
Ghost
Glyph Studios
Editor
Nicole
Glade
Production
Design
Christopher
Cote
Joi
Dariel
First,
some background – I’m not sure that I’ve ever mentioned this
publicly, but The
Little Mermaid
is one of my favorite animated films from Disney. The only thing this
has to do with the new Zenescope comic is that it increased my
interest in reading it and probably my desire to actually publish a
review of it. Otherwise the two things are unrelated.
As
you may or may not know, the Disney version is not the original. Hans
Christian Andersen wrote the original, which is very different from
the Disney version and features the titular character enduring
terrible suffering and humiliation before finally taking her own
life.
Needless
to say, there were no singing crabs. It’s pretty fucking
depressing.
Anyway,
because of the Disney version I’m always curious about different
interpretations. I wasn’t expecting anything quite as grim as
Andersen’s horrifying tale from Zenescope, but I knew it was likely
to have a different take and tone than Disney’s.
Zenescope
has previously established the character of their own Little Mermaid
in Myths
& Legends Volume 2.
If you haven’t read that, you and I are in the same boat (so to
speak), so I’ll be providing a “New Reader Perspective”.
Story
So Far...
Do
you know the real story of the Little Mermaid?
When
a young mermaid finds herself captured, her world will turn upside
down
and she will need to find the courage to confront her fears or
perish
at the hands of evil.
That’s
not really saying much, but never fear – what you need to know is
explained in the ensuing narrative.
I’m
going to keep it light on story details here because part of the fun
I had reading this comic was in discovering each of the plot points.
What I will say is that this Little Mermaid – Erica – is a very
different Little Mermaid from Disney’s or Andersen’s, though she
has qualities of both versions. We only get a few character beats in
this issue – significant ones – but I’m already hooked into
watching Zenescope’s mermaid develop.
There’s
more than just Erica here, though. Issue #1 gives us a look at the
world she inhabits and the people she’ll be dealing with, as well
as a mysterious organization that’s up to no good.
Side
Note: Mysterious organizations are never
up to any good.
The
story jumps through times and places and I’ll have to admit that it
took me reading the issue a couple of times to grasp who was doing
what when and where. It’s not bad storytelling by any stretch –
there are just a lot of elements to bring together here and no way to
do it concisely. I appreciate that we’re getting to the point
rather than drawing the various components of Erica’s origin out
over an entire arc. That’s not to say I don’t think we’ll see
more of her (and the other characters’) past, but we needed bullet
points here to get the story rolling. By the end of the second time
through I felt fully caught up and ready to read more, is the point.
The
art is fantastic. It’s certainly what I have come to think of as
the “Zenescope Style” – competent and clear, with very strong
storytelling. While I wouldn’t be opposed to some experimentation
with style in the future, I really appreciate that all of the titles
from Zenescope feel like they’re in the same world. I think it’s
good for smaller publishers to have a strong, recognizable identity.
The
underwater scenes in the book are beautiful. Try to imagine drawing
the ocean. How do you do that? Sure – there are fish and there’s
coral and seaweed and anemones. But how does all that stuff interact?
And how do you make it seem alive while at the same time creating an
environment for comic book characters to inhabit?
It’s
not just a matter of coloring the space around the character blue.
There’s motion everywhere underwater. It has to feel organic, and
in The
Little Mermaid
it does. It’s a combination of efforts from the artists, and it
looks wonderful.
The
portions of the story that take place on dry land also look good and
have tons of detail and background, but the images in the depths are
so nice I wanted more.
As
far as the characters go, the artist – Miguel Mendonca – is very
good with showing emotions through facial expressions and body
language. Each character is very distinctive and has their own
proportions and features. There aren’t any “blank slate”
characters, even among the background cast. Action scenes are dynamic
and engaging and it’s very easy to tell what’s going on in each
panel, as well as to follow the sequence of panels.
Okay,
I’m gonna give you guys this one since Zenescope has released art
depicting her and it’s no surprise that she shows up in the comic.
Phantomaniacs – check out this Sea Witch!:
That’s
just an awesome design. I'm sure there are those that would complain about her not being a "full-figured woman", but let's try to remember that this is unrelated to the Disney version and also that villification of large people is an ugly thing. Fit, sexy people can be villains, too.
Throughout
the panels she is depicted as having a writhing, amorphous form and
it makes for a very sinister and imposing villain. I don’t want to
spoil who she’s talking to, but it’s an intense and ugly
conversation. Between the dialogue and the art, it’s clear that the
Sea Witch is savoring every moment of torture she can inflict.
I
enjoyed reading this book and looking at the art and, once again, I
find myself anticipating the next issue.
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