There’s a lot to cover on Wednesdays. We should know, as collectively, we read an insane amount of comics. Even with a large review staff, it’s hard to get to everything. With that in mind, we’re back with Wrapping Wednesday, where we look at some of the books we missed in what was another great week of comics.
Let’s get this party started.
City Boy #5
Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Minkyu Jung and Mike Choi
Colored by Sebastian Cheng
Lettered by Wes Abbott
Reviewed by Alexander Jones
Creators Greg Pak and Minkyu Jung continue to find the nuanced characterization for Cameron Kim in “City Boy.” The ‘We Are Legends’ comics have been fascinating titles set to bolster new heroes to prominence. The fifth issue of “City Boy” is set to change things up by introducing Swamp Thing into the narrative. What lessons will Swamp Thing teach the new hero of the DC Universe?
“City Boy” #5 continues to explore a non-linear narrative structure by opening with a flashback focused on Cameron and his mother. This painful memory evoked a nuanced tone for ”City Boy” #5 right from the first couple of pages. Following this moment, Cameron struggles to come to grips with the complicated morality issues stemming from the previous chapter. Learning about the context that causes Swamp Thing’s appearance in the story was fascinating. Watching Swamp Thing and City Boy discuss the parallels between their power sets was a really intriguing element of the narrative.
Minkyu Jung brings so much complexities to the facial details for Cameron and Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing’s cerebral personality is characterized incredibly well in his muted expressions throughout the narrative. Jung’s complicated layouts contrast Kim and Swamp Thing from a visual perspective as well. Mike Choi’s art is much more synthetic and abstract. DC’s editorial did a fantastic job finding a story-based hook to introduce Choi’s art in the narrative. While Choi’s backgrounds are missing additional details, the exaggerated anatomy and tense facial expressions continue to deliver the nuanced tone of ”City Boy” #5.
Cameron experiences an important story detail in ”City Boy” #5. However, this twist involving Cameron’s family is obvious and fails to find the nuance in Cameron’s relationships. Following this sequence, “City Boy” #5 implements an ending that fails to inspire new story ideas. Artists Minkyu Jung and Mike Choi both bring a subversive visual element to the narrative. Overall, ”City Boy” #5 is a strong issue of adept characterization between Cameron and Swamp Thing. Sadly, the underwhelming second half derails the narrative tension in the issue slightly.
Final Verdict: 7.3 – ”City Boy” #5 evokes nuanced characterization for Swamp Thing and Cameron Kim.
Nights #1
Written by Wyatt Kennedy
Illustrated by Luigi Formisano
Colored by Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli
Lettered by Maria Letizia Mirabella
Reviewed by Alexander Manzo
“Nights” hooks the reader almost instantly with this grounded-in-reality vibe throughout the issue, but the twist is that reality includes vampires, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures. Thus far, the story follows three protagonists. Vincent is a “normal” (so far) young teenager moving across the country after his mother’s death. His uncle, Ivory, seems to be only slightly older than Vincent, and though he doesn’t have any powers either, he is more versed in this world and has a checked history since he’s a hitman for hire. Finally, the vampire roommate Gray seems to have a free-spirit mentality, but by the end, we find out she may have a darker secret she’s been hiding from everyone. Wyatt Kennedy utilizes the extra pages in this issue to fast-forward through time to help keep the reader interested. Although most of the issue is world-building sprinkled with a bit of action, the final page shows a world-ending type of creature. Kennedy uses an interesting tactic by having Vincent be the narrator, too, so the reader builds a strong connection with him and can automatically root for him in every situation he gets thrown into.
Luigi Formisano’s art style for this issue is similar to Kennedy’s script in that it feels grounded but still personal and familiar to the reader. The character design for all humans is standard in that there are no exaggerated details such as overly drawn muscles or disproportionate body parts. What Formisano places a strong emphasis on is the emotions of all the characters, from happiness to fear or even anger. These details sometimes feel like they get forgotten for more significant titles, but something new like “Nights” is vital to keep hold of. Even the monster design for the more agro-vampires and ghosts is familiar to readers of any age, which again feels like a strong, deliberate choice to keep the reader hooked into the more personal aspect of the story. The twists and secrets of this debut can be more relatable to the human and “normal” reasonings rather than anything supernatural.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – It’s a great debut story with solid examples of world-building and character development inside a supernatural reality.
