Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Concrete: Three Uneasy Pieces #1
Dark Horse Comics
Chadwick
This Concrete one-shot collects three short stories originally published in Dark Horse Presents last year. This is my first exposure to the character and I found this one-shot to provide a broad range of stories, enough to make me have a sense of the character. I liked this issue a lot and I definitely plan to seek out more stories from Concrete. In that regard, I think the comic is a success.
The first story, Intersection, is my favorite of the comic. Concrete is helping out the police by taking care of a standoff on top of a roof. However, he finds himself playing a little detective on the side as things are not as they appear. This story is a wonderful example of how any situation, particularly in a populated area like a city, has many plots occurring in any one given location and any point in time. I like artwork a lot in the story as Chadwick mixes up the point of view a lot to give you multiple angles to give the reader inside knowledge juxtaposed with what Concrete sees. This was an excellent eight page story.
The second one, In A Wound In the Earth, is a strange mix of the supernatural and science fiction. Basically, Concrete and his friends find a man trapped in a hole. This one fits in well with Concrete’s origin and I loved the beginning bit when they discover the man trapped. The oddity with this was the ending. I just wasn’t quite getting what (or how) happened to the guy. I loved the art in this one as well as the view of the hole in the ground was particularly creative and daunting to look at.
Finally, Everything Looks Like A Nail, is Concrete’s attempt to get police to use him rather than tasing for those that don’t comply. This one was definitely heavy handed, but the message is a valid one and comes across crystal clear. The topic is also respectfully done to police out there on the job. After reading Chadwick’s letter in the back it seems obvious that he passionate about the topic of police force and it seems like he actually held back in the Concrete story. Still, this is a good story with a clever ending.
There you have it, three stories in one comic book. Twenty four pages of entertainment with not a dud in the bunch. If you have been curious about Concrete then this is the issue to pick up. I enjoyed this read very much.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
