Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Spaceman #1 of 9
Vertigo Comics (DC)
Azzarello & Risso
The one dollar Vertigo launch from acclaimed writer Brian Azzarello proves to be a difficult first issue to hook a reader in. I found the entire issue to be puzzling as I struggled to understand the universe, the characters, the plot and at times, the dialogue. With the price tag though, it's really hard to not recommend giving the book a try. I'm sure as the story unfolds all of my questions will be answered but I'm not sure the style presented in this first issue is enough for me to commit to eight more issues.
The issue centers around the character called Orson. Orson seems to be part man and part ape. He's huge but mostly hairless and apparently not too bright. He stumbles through life apparently addicted to drugs and he uses gadgets as a means of entertaining himself, to seek counseling or to please his sexual needs. He has no money and no prospects and seems to be taking bizarre occupations to fill in the spaces.
The plot of the issue is that a child of two famous individuals is kidnapped. Since the world is a dystopian future it's not entirely clear how the world even views celebrities or what they mean in the culture. What is clear is that the world is vastly different and it isn't just different in terms of visuals.
The dialogue that Azzarello invokes is a mixture of modern day short-hand (think texting) and something out of the novel 1984. At first the dialogue is very difficult to follow but I found by the end of the issue that the range is very limited as the same few words seem to be repeated. It's clever but I am not sure if it's just the characters or if the culture has actually shifted.
The big redeeming quality of the issue is the artwork. Risso illustrates an excellent world here. However, he excels with some of the quiet moments of the issue. For example, both the opening and the closing scenes contain almost no dialogue and Risso gives a step by step approach to the movements and it's excellent visually.
Azzarello has a huge following and he is on a lot of people's short list of favorite creators. I have no doubt that this issue will have plenty of people that love it and I am sure as this mini-series progresses it will only get better. However, if you strip away all of that, as an introductory issue I couldn't find too much in here that tells me what this series is about. As far as I can tell the coolest thing about the issue is the prospect of the contents when I look at the gorgeous cover. Despite this not being to my tastes the fact remains that the issue is only a buck and there is simply no reason to not give it a try.
2 out of 5 Geek Goggles
