Working in retail, especially during the holiday season, is hell. I speak from experience when I say that it’s not just the crowds, it’s not just the middle management with over inflated sense of importance, and it’s not just the crappy pay; it’s the sense of worthlessness and the feeling that you’re stuck on the bottom rung of life where anyone (and I do mean anyone) has a blank check to treat you like crap because “the customer is always right”.
But I digress. Here’s a comic called “Black Friday” that takes all of this anger and misery and puts it in sequential art form.
Written by Jon ClarkCover by: Jon Clark
Illustrated by Travis Williamson
Lettered by April Brown
“Black Friday” #1 follows a kid named Javier as he tries to survive the post feeding frenzy that is big box retail on Black Friday and all he wants to do is go home and go to bed. Unfortunately, his bubbly mystic of a girlfriend Ceci has decided to work as holiday help in order to witness the carnage and chaos that is Black Friday, and she feels that there is something very strange going on. That, coupled with a boss who is there to make sure that everything runs smoothly, means he doesn’t get to go home right as they uncover a pit of despair and twisted bodies lurking right underneath the aisles of their store, feeding on all the pent up aggression and negative energy, and waiting to get out.
The story for “Black Friday” #1 comes from writer Jon Clark, and while it’s not very fair to speculate on the creator’s previous life, it sounds like this story is coming from some very unfortunate past experiences working in retail. The very idea of some demon living underneath a big box store that feeds off negativity just feels like the creator has been thinking about this for a very long time. Also, the protagonist Javier and the store’s manager Alan, are very well written and relatable. Javier is just a young kid who wants to do his job and get through the day with a minimum amount of fuss while Alan is that jerk of a boss that everyone’s had who takes his job far too seriously and will not hesitate to exercise what little power he has in order to make himself look good. It all comes together to impose a supernatural twist on very natural fears, something all good horror needs to do if it wants to find an audience.
The artwork for “Black Friday” #1 comes from Travis Williamson, which was a very good choice for the story and gives the book a very unique feel. Williamson has a highly exaggerated style with a very thin line and abstract approach that does a great job of reflecting the ugliness and nastiness of the setting and story. It’s a style that is very reminiscent of Ralph Steadman, the artist who illustrated many of Hunter S. Thompson’s stories such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which is very fitting considering that both this comic and Thompson’s work seek to peel back the layers of supposedly normal, everyday life to reveal something twisted and awful underneath. It’s a great stylistic choice for the book and beautifully enhances the twisted horror that lies underneath.
Unfortunately, while the overall premise and idea of the characters are spot on and the artwork is great, the script and pacing of “Black Friday” #1 leaves a lot to be desired. The problems of the book boil down to two main issues. First, is the mechanics of the story. Clark relies far too much on narrative captions that give the impression that he doesn’t trust the reader to understand what’s going on and how the characters are feeling. This leads to the story wandering and dragging in the middle, which also gives the impression that the creative team was struggling to come up with enough material to get to the end of the book.
The second problem is Javier’s girlfriend: Ceci. While she serves the purpose of being a love interest for the protagonist and some sort of supernatural expert to explain what’s going on, she comes off as feeling extraneous and pointless. She does nothing but play around on her phone, she’s only there out of morbid curiosity, and her only role in this part of the story seems to be pointing out that everyone is in danger when the artwork does a perfectly fine job of doing that on its own. It’s not that she can’t be important later on, it’s just that she doesn’t seem to fit in this particular issue.
“Black Friday” #1 is a good idea for a book with some very unique art that does a great job of being very relatable to anyone who has ever worked in retail on the holidays. Unfortunately, major problems with the script and pacing turn the middle of the book into a jumbled mess that makes the whole thing feel like it might be better off as an illustrated novel instead of a serialized comic book.
Final Verdict: 5.5- A great premise with weird and appropriately creepy art that is crippled by a confusing and overly wordy script.
