Broken Frontier

Dwarf and Gnome shows that one must not overextend themselves when going at it mostly alone.

Dwarf and Gnome, a new title available digitally (http://blackdogpublicationsstore.bigcartel.com/product/dwarf-and-gnome-1-digital-version), has an interesting premise, it being a buddy-adventure set in the age of swords and sorcery. The titular characters don't get along, but will have to overcome evil. The plot isn't anything special, but the setting is. It's the transposition of settings that gives the book notoriety. The problem with that is that people adverse to the setting might easily skip out on it; those who liked romantic comedies but not zombies likely skipped out on Shaun of the Dead, for example.

Visually, the book is a little jarring. The sketchbook section in the back of the title shows that Mason Cook has some good pencil work in him, but the main title is so darkly inked/brightly colored that the contrast stands out. If the whole book was just pencils on wrought pages, as the sketchbook shows, it'd be a lot more pleasing to the eye. Even if the book was colored as it was and less strongly inked (or avoided ink in the first place), it'd have greater visual appeal. Cook's sketchbook reveals he has the potential, but the final project is just too overworked to be appealing.

The story is serviceable, but mainly depends on whether fantasy/buddy comedies are your thing. The art, though, shows signs of promise, but just trips before the finish line. It's worth a look, and hopefully Cook's art will have a future on other projects. This might be the start of something good from the artist, but time will tell.