Subtitled “in the Museum of Madness”, “Doc Unknown” centres on a museum heist gone weird – and pretty entertainingly weird at that. Keep an eye out for this title at ECCC!
Written by Fabian Rangel Jr.
Illustrated by Ryan CodyWhen the forces of evil threaten the citizens of Gate City it’s up to DOC UNKNOWN to stop them. In Doc Unknown and the Museum of Madness, monstrous mobster BOSS SNAKE tries to steal an enchanted statue. When Doc intervenes he finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for.
This is the first appearance of a brand new, pulp inspired action- adventure series starring a mystery man with a mean uppercut.
Get a bowl. Mix Batman: The Animated Series, Hellboy, Planetary and Indiana Jones and you get DOC UNKNOWN!
A conspiracy is at hand – and it involves a bunch of guys in party masks, and a skeleton with two heads. That is, it probably does. There’s a lot we don’t know in this first issue of “Doc Unknown”, but the going at least is fun, as the eponymous begoggled hero sets about foiling a museum heist and encounters all sorts of odd things along the way. True to his name, it’s not clear exactly who or what Doc Unknown is, but as he takes down his reptilian-looking mob boss nemesis, it’s clear he means business.
The issue moves quickly, setting up all kinds of mysteries (there’s even a ghost!) and producing at least one more villain and one big MacGuffin for us to worry about by the end of the issue. Maybe it’s this fast pace that makes it all feel a bit meatless; for all the plot and action going on, there’s little in the way of character development and not much reason to care about the Doc’s mission as of yet. Of course, this is a common problem for issues that start us out in medias res, and it more often than not gets resolved as the series moves on and slows down. For the moment, there’s enough intrigue to make a look at the next instalment an interesting prospect.
Ryan Cody’s art is clean and sharp, setting down a universe that’s a little bit pulp and a little bit minimalist and a little bit silly but all in a light and confident sort of way. It also strips down nicely – one highlight of the issue is a flashback sequence where the colours are dialed down to simple washes of green and the lines are left raw and unfinished. But while the storytelling is smooth overall, there are several moments – particularly during action sequences – where it feels like Cody should move his camera back a good five paces so that we can get a clearer look at what’s going on. Overall, though, Cody’s art matches well with the swiftly-moving storyline and adds its fair share of energy to the proceedings.
While it is on the shallow side, “Doc Unknown” is a fun little read, and Cody’s smooth art in combination with the Rangel’s inventive writing makes it worth a look-see. And there are lots of ways to get your look-see on: if you’re at ECCC this week, Ryan Cody will be there selling print copies at table 0-17, and if you’re closer to Austin, Fabian Rangel Jr. will be at Staple! Media Expo at table 41. And you can always snag yourself a couple copies over at Rangel’s webstore.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Browse.
