The other day while rummaging through my garage for yard-sale worthy items I came across an old sketchbook of superhero concepts I kept as a kid. As the nostalgia washed over me, I reflected back on my childhood yearnings to become a comic book artist. I remember spending all of my hard-earned allowance on a VHS copy of “How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way” hosted by the legendary Stan Lee and the late John Buscema. I must have watched that video a thousand times, sitting in front of the television, sketchbook and pencils at the ready. I would abandon my dream some years later when I realized my passion far outstripped my talent. My work had no sense of perspective. My attempts to capture the human anatomy were, as the kids say nowadays, epic fails – especially the female form. Read into that what you will.
But perhaps the most disappointing realization as I flipped through the ole sketchbook were just how corny my characters were. Now you might be saying to yourself, “Come now, Shain. Don’t be so hard on yourself. They couldn’t have been that bad.” Well, I had a character who had a scythe for a hand and he was a farmer who scythed bad guys and his name was Scythe. That couldn’t be any more on the nose if I had a hero called the Nose and he had something on his nose. Come to think of it, that’s actually kind of funny. I may use that one day.
But I digress…
Binary Gray
Writer/Creator: Chris Charlton
Pencils/Inks: Rowel Roque
Coloring: Anthonie Wilson
Lettering: Brant Fowler
Inside Cover Art: David Hollenbach
Homepage: http://assailantcomics.com
Preview Link
The Story
The main protagonist of Binary Gray, the subject of this week’s “Creator Owned Showcase”, is Alex Gray, a troubled young man who as a child witnessed the death of his father, the victim of collateral damage during a battle between two superpowers. Burdened by the inexplicable guilt of his father’s death, Alex spent much of his life wallowing in self pity, relegating himself to a bottom-feeding career in technical support that leaves him unfulfilled. Alex spends most of his work day brooding and passively loathing his coworkers who he holds in great contempt. One day, while performing routine maintenance in his employer’s server room, Alex accidentally touches a live wire resulting in a massive electric shock that nearly kills him. He awakens sometime later in a hospital bed, only to discover the electrocution has granted him the power to communicate with and control any electronic device, hence the “binary” in “Binary Gray”.
The Good
Artist Rowel Roque does a competent job of moving the story forward by way of good camera work, panel layout and expressive face work. The lettering by Gormley is crisp and legible and the cover art by Hollenbach is beautifully abstract.
I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but there is something inherently humorous about the way the main protagonist uses his new-found abilities in this book. By the beginning of the second issue, not only has Alex completely accepted his new-found power, he’s reveling in its possibilities. Unfortunately they’re not particularly impressive possibilities.
“I could…hack into evil-doers social networking sites and change their profile pictures.”
Change their profile pictures indeed. And why not? If you think about it, would the average person really be so willing as to paint a target on their back and put themselves in the line of fire in defense of truth, justice and the American Way? The notion that blessed with superhuman abilities not everyone will go big is certainly within the boundaries of possibility, and a book about a hero who unceremoniously uses his powers in utterly pedestrian ways could actually be a fun and unique comic book. Hell, I’d read it.
The Bad
Character design and naming is a consistent point of weakness in many creator-owned comic books and “Binary Gray” is no exception. Alex is a little too tall, dark and handsome for your average anti-social IT tech with daddy issues. Trust me, I used to be one. The story itself is set in a world of cookie-cutter superheroes and villains with a litany of groan-inducing monickers and costumes seemingly lifted from a DC Universe Online avatar creation wizard. There’s a hero named Wing. He has wings. There’s another hero named “The Cross”. Pictured here, he has not one but two crosses on his costume. Did I mention he’s a devout Christian? Let’s not forget the first villain Alex encounters, “The Moth”. He has wings, antennae and a chitinous exoskeleton. You get the idea.
Recall my opening anecdote about my shitty characters? There’s a couple of reasons why I started this column with that anecdote, first and foremost to amuse you at the expense of my personal dignity but more importantly to illustrate an important point:
If you’re going to take a lackadaisical approach to designing your comic book characters, best be prepared to back ’em up with some stellar writing. Anything less is a sketchbook of half-baked character ideas. The names and costume of your comic book characters rank among the most important decisions you’ll ever make, so make them count. (Unless, of course, you’re Garth Ennis.)
Full disclosure, I’ve always had a problem with superhero pseudonyms. One of the more shrewd decisions Bryan Singer made for the first X-men film was having the characters refer to each other by their real names, the obvious reason being they sound ridiculous spoken out loud. He even squeezed a little comedy out of that truth. (“What should I call you, Wheels?”) I’ve long held the belief that the superhero nom de guerre creates a wall between the reader and the humanity of the characters. Now before you go off on me, I do concede that in some situations it is perfectly acceptable. For example, when the citizens of Metropolis see a man flying around in a red cape and tights, I’m cool with the crowd shouting, “Hey, it’s Superman!” I’m not a complete idiot. Obviously “Hey, its Clark!” doesn’t net the same dramatic effect. But when his comrades in the JLA do it, especially the ones who know his secret identity, its just awkward. Just call him Clark, or Kal-El if you’re a Kryptonian. It makes the character interactions seem more authentic. A good example is the Superman/Batman battle that closes Frank Miller’s epic “The Dark Knight Returns.” By way of thought and dialogue balloons, the characters communicate their frustrations and concerns for one another while referring to each other by their first names. It suggests an intimacy between these two characters you just can’t have with aliases.
But I digress the sequel.
You may recall my mentioning the main protagonist of “Binary Gray” is an IT tech. As powers go, I can see how the ability to control any electronic device would appeal to someone in that position. It certainly would have made my job easier, although I have to admit it’s not particularly exciting to watch Alex browse the internet with his mind. Unfortunately, you sort of write yourself into a corner with powers like this. It’s why nobody goes to comic con dressed-up like Forge from X-men. I can’t imagine these powers being effective in combat (or so I assume, the first two issues have yet to introduce any real conflict) and they don’t manifest well visually, although you have to give the artist credit for trying. For example, one page has an inset panel with a corded-mouse surrounded by arcs of electricity. It doesn’t necessarily evoke the drama of a “flame-on” but it gets the point across, I guess.
There are some other confusing writing decisions regarding the main character’s powers. For one, the computers he interfaces with all greet him by name. Why? Are the computers sentient? More importantly, for a guy who can interface with any technology, why does he need to physically be in front of a computer at all? Is my Droid 3 more advanced than this guy’s cybernetic abilities? How does electric shock give someone anything but a heart condition and a headache? Sure, the original Spidey and Hulk origins share a common ignorance of the effects of errant radiation but that was the 60’s. Nowadays they just blame genetics and hope no one notices.
More to the point, why is Alex an IT tech? As a former IT tech myself, I found his dejection toward his job uncomfortably familiar, but I know why I became a tech. What gravitated him to that line of work? What does it say about him? The lack of subtext in this regard is troubling, and it makes me wonder if sufficient legwork was done on this aspect of the character’s background, which brings up an important point:
There are no arbitrary decisions in the development of a character, especially their occupation. Trace each writing decision back to an artistic justification. Whether your character is simpy a worker bee or a billionaire playboy philanthropist, what they do speaks to who they are.
Continued belowThere is very little in the way of back-story in the first two issues. A throwaway account of Alex’s poor relationship with his mother dangles like hanging chad.
“I never had much of a connection with my mom. She’s not a bad person. I love her, but she was always too busy doing her own thing to spend time with me like dad did.”
This is literally all that’s said regarding this aspect of the character. It paints a rather limited picture of the character’s psychology. I hope this is fleshed out further in future issues.
Final Thoughts for the Readers
Artistically, the creative team behind “Binary Gray” have all the requisite skills to pull off a good book. The writing, however, could use some serious tightening up. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend “Binary Gray” at this time, but I’m not willing to write it off completely either. If for nothing else, I’m curious to see how Alex handles his first confrontation with “The Moth,” although if the villain’s powers is eating holes in his clothing, I’m done.
Notes to the Creator
- In the character bio featured at the end of the first issue, you provide a little background about the character that just doesn’t jive with the character you’ve written. “When we meet Alex in this issue, he’s already a mess. Hates his job, hates his life. He’s bitter and full of regret. He still carries the burden of his father’s death, which has been detrimental to his mental state.” I guess you and I have different definitions as to how a detrimental mental state manifests on the page. The character I read holds a full time job, maintains cordial relationships with his coworkers and takes care of his body. Bitter, yes….emotional wreck, not really.
- The details surrounding his father’s death are ambiguous. Alex states in the first issue, “if I hadn’t made him stop in the street that day.[he’d still be alive]” That’s the basis for his guilt? I checked the first two pages and nothing indicates Alex taking an action that lead to his father’s death. In fact, you have a panel showing his father putting his hand on his son’s shoulder and pointing up. To me, that reads like the father is the one who caused his own death. The circumstances behind his death is critical to your entire story. You need to clarify this further.
- What is his path? If you intend to follow the avenging father’s death story to its ultimate conclusion, do you have plans for what happens after that goal is achieved? Chart the overall arc of the character and be sure to address how the catharsis of achieving that goal will affect him.
- Map the limits of your character’s powers. Address the inconsistencies mentioned earlier in the review.
- There is some inconsistency in the shadow work of this book. Consider the screen shot to the right. Shadows add depth of field and aid in perspective. They should be applied consistently throughout your book or each environment will feel flat.
- Your colorist seems to have a fondness for muted pink and teal because its used all over the place. Using the same background colors makes it difficult for your readers to distinguish between environments. Those colors are also kinda ugly. Why Alex has a pink bathroom is beyond me, unless you’re trying to say something about the character I’m missing.
- Pay attention to thought vs dialogue balloons. I’ve noticed a number of dialogue balloons that take place in panels where no other characters exist, which is fine if the intention is to illustrate the character talking to himself. If its not, its expository, and has no business being in dialogue balloon. See the screenshot to the right for an example. Who is he talking to out loud? Who talks like that out loud? If that’s his style, it should be consistent throughout the book, which its not.
