Broken Frontier

Newly fatherless, Enrico’s rage is fueled by dragon games into a blood lust that is not easily quenched.

Joe Kelly is quickly becoming the HOT writer in comics. He has shown a broad range that has covered everything from Spider-Man to werewolf bounty hunters. While Bad Dog and his work for the House of Ideas show a playful side to his writing, Four Eyes is something different. Something special.

The first issue took the reader on a mystifying journey to Depression era New York. The tragedy of Enrico’s father’s death opened the boy’s eyes to what was really going on around him. Fortunately for the reader this involves dragons that are used for "sport" in the underworld. The realism of setting, character and dialogue allows for breath taking suspension of disbelief for those willing to indulge the fantasy.

As dark as the debut was, there was a magical quality both in the exposition of this world and the sparkle of Fiumara’s artwork. With this issue the darkness seeps off the page. Employing an often poetic narrative, Kelly sets sites on the realm that has been mastered by names such as Dahl, Gaiman, and Burton. He taps into that dark underside of one’s formative years. This is the kind of story that notices the bump in the night and unflinchingly and excitedly attempts to find its source.

Enrico is surrounded by people who don’t (or don’t care to) understand him. A mother who hides behind what she considers safe or proper. Her boyfriend who hides his true carnal desires behind a respectable front of friendly and fatherly advice. The dragon handler whose deep reverence for the boy’s deceased father will have him hear no word about dragons from the child’s lips.

Who else to turn to, but the one man who can understand his desire and hate? Christoforo, the apparent boss of the underworld. A man who recognizes the passion behind Enrico’s blood lust. He knows that avoiding the boy will only cost his business and possibly the boy’s life. So this one man, motivated only by greed, allows the boy to bask in the luxury of his vengeance.

Along the way, Fiumara fills each page with dynamic panel work - cinematic and concerned with providing the consumer with his money’s worth. Splash art is bordered with reactionary shots. There is no needless decompression here, the pages are full of dialogue and narrative, action, detail and rich emotion.

The designs add to the ambience. Similar enough to real anatomy allowing an enhancement of the realism but stylized enough to inform the inherent fantasy of the book. It is an impressively fine line that is walked with skill.

Two issues in, the only draw back of this book was the agonizing delay between issues. This was good in a way that it allowed those late to the party to discover the gem, but anxiety has been caused over the schedule. Fortunately most readers seemed to be breathlessly awaiting this issue and that is a good thing, even if the silence from the creators and the publisher is bothersome.

With a fresh resolicit for the third issue, hopefully the book is back on track. The word of mouth following the book accompanied by a reasonable schedule should generate more excitement and this is what this comic needs. Mostly, because it is the most exciting comic in a while. It is what comics are all about - reflective escapism, timely relativism, wonderful story and an attractive package.