Webcomics aren’t exactly my thing. I don’t know, but in general they’ve never really clicked for me. I’m always looking for little comics and humorous things I can read, but I’ve never become attached to any comics that I can follow online with a regular basis like I do the comics I go and pick up in stores on Wednesday. There’s no particular reason for this – I just never found one I really enjoyed and would remember to constantly visit.
That is, until now! (Man, don’t you love it when reviews start like that?)
When an e-mail shows up in my inbox that describes a comic as Calvin and Hobbes meets Bone, I can’t possibly ignore that, now can I? And what I was treated with was Smash, a webcomic by Chris and Kyle Bolton, and arguably one of the freshest takes on the young boy getting superpowers since Invincible.
For my thoughts, just click behind the jump.
I’m an absolute sucker for coming of age stories, and when you throw a little “super” into the mix you have me even more. This is the biggest appeal about Smash. We start off with a clear homage to Calvin and Hobbes as Andrew Ryan (not related to the Bioshock villain… I think) fantasizes in class about joining up with his hero, the Defender. What follows is an equally charming and elaborate tale of the Defender’s death and the mysterious transference of power to young Andrew, who is so stoked to finally be a hero, and the new Defender at that.
The intrigue doesn’t just end there, of course. Within the stories all too short first season, we have a retired hero returning, a dastardly evil (and huge) villain, betrayal, and terrific heroics. Of course, right off the bat I’m thinking of books like (Ultimate) Spider-Man and Invincible. And just as I quickly attached to the stories told within those books, I very quickly grew to love the story of Smash. A story like this would not survive of the hero wasn’t worth following, and little Andrew makes for a very earnest hero. He’s young and not too corrupted by the world around him, and at most he’s an idealist. He sees the good in all of us and everything, and he just wants to do his part to make the world a better place.
It’s a good thing, then, that his world is so richly populated with characters. There is his mother and father, divorced, and his older brother, who is going through some kind of a hard time yet to be fully revealed. There is the captain who used to help out Defender, now helping out Smash. And there is of course, the supremely evil Magus. Magus makes a perfect foe for Smash due to the parallel in size and age. Smash is a young and small hero, where as Magus is a huge mountain of an angry man who, besides his extreme evil nature, we basically know nothing about. That’s part of the reason he’s awesome – he is the polar opposite necessary for Smash to exist. While I’m sure Smash’s rogues gallery will grow exponentially over time (it’s already grown a bit throughout the first season), his first major foe is pretty much perfect for the situation.
Now let’s look at the creative team: the brothers Bolton. Chris handles the writing, while Kyle handles the art. Chris proves himself a young fresh writer with a great voice in Smash, as he handles the character interactions with seemingly no effort. I imagine that the dialogue is probably the easiest bit, almost as if he were a young Bendis (and he just might be). Meanwhile, Kyle reminds me of Stuart Immonen, in that his art seems like a chameleon of several artists, yet it’s 100% original. In fact, the whole comic looks fairly cartoony, and I mean that in the highest compliment ever. Smash as a whole would make an amazing Saturday morning cartoon, leagues better than the type of low quality shows kids get today
(sorry, Super Hero Squad.. this is better).
Needless to say, I can’t recommend this comic enough. I read all of Season 1 in one sitting and I was hooked by the end of it, truly and triumphantly. Smash won me over like no other web comic before it has, and I am definitely looking to see where the story goes for season 2. And I’ll say it once, I’ll say it again: as soon as this is available in trade, I’ll be first in line to order a copy. A truly wonderful story with so much potential, it’s bursting at the seams.
But don’t just take my word for it! Click here to check out the comic for yourself.
