Pretty Deadly Volume One: The
Shrike
Issues #1-5
Publisher:
Image Comics
Story:
Kelly Sue Deconnick
Art:
Emma Rios
Rated:
M/Mature
Genre:
Fantasy, Western
Price:
$9.99
What an amazing
book. I'm really not sure what to compare it to; it's part western,
part fable, part epic poem. Beautiful and brutal at the same time;
the narrative starts and doesn't stop, slow down or stutter until the
last page.
Emma Rios' art
perfectly depicts the gritty setting, the violence and the emotion of
every scene, making it the ideal counterpoint to Kelly Sue
Deconnick's storytelling. The story is told in an almost lyrical way
that makes it flow from one point to the next seamlessly, and there
is a brevity to her writing that is refreshing, there is a noticeable
lack of internal monologues and the rambling thoughts that seem to
pad the word counts of some other comic-fare on the market.
Back
to the art. I noticed not a single wasted panel, some artists find
it necessary to show you six views of the landscape so that you can
REALLY
tell that it's empty/snowing/sprawling cityscape/whatever. Rios'
shows the reader exactly what they need to see, relies on our
intelligence without hammering us over the head, and moves on to the
next thing. This style makes the action take place at a frantic
pace, and I can't imagine it happening any other way. I did notice,
in just a couple of action sequences, that I had trouble following
from panel to panel intuitively without going back and picking out
the details. This caused me to stumble through the action in a
couple of spots, but isn't something that I'd expect to even affect
every reader.
Conclusion:
I can't wait to read more. If this duo can continue to turn out
their superb combination of story and art then I'll keep reading it.
The imagery and the tone/style fit the story as if they were all made
for each other.
Rating:
9.5/10
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