Broken Frontier

In this rather experimental book, writer and publisher Larry Young most certainly did prove his concepts. Most of the time.

In the framing sequence for this graphic novel, Larry Young pitches several projects over the phone. Those projects, of which we see the beginnings, include everything from zombie dinosaurs to rogue, time-traveling space captains. The end of the book features a reprinted story about the downfall of an invisible actress. All of these concepts, as you can see, are extremely fun, even if all of them are not so well executed.

The first story in this book is entitled AHemogoblin.@ In this story, Young only truly shows us the introduction of what could be a very long, action-packed story. He and artist Damian Couceiro do an excellent job of setting up a suspenseful atmosphere, and I, for one, would like to see this story played out further. Next up is the book=s strongest story, as Young collaborates with Steven Sanders on AZombie Dinosaur.@ Young, in the very brief space of twelve pages, does an absolutely excellent job with character development. Despite that emphasis on character, Young realizes the story centers on zombie dinosaurs and should be fun. The freaky twist at the end of this story is the perfect finishing touch, which, alone is worth the cost of the book.

From this point, the book remains solid, but falls off a bit. All of the artists, particularly Kieron Dwyer and Jeff Johns, continue to do excellent work, but Young slacks off a bit in the execution of his ideas. AThe Camera,@ for example, has the incredibly intriguing idea of three children putting a video camera in a wormhole, but Young does not really show off the potential in that idea, using a rather simple story. AFor the Time Being,@ meanwhile, has a lot of things going for it, including an intriguing idea and an absolutely chilling conclusion. Young=s script, however, becomes rather confusing, as is typical of time travel stories. The initial strength of the book returns for AEmancipating Lincoln.@ Backed with perhaps the best concept in the book, Young really delivers an intriguing story, showing off several possibilities. If one story in the book is elaborated upon, AEmancipating Lincoln@ should be it.

Any original idea in an industry such as comics should be pressed. To make Proof of Concept all the more impressive, it, all in all, turns out to be an enjoyable book. Even if the execution occasionally falters, the very ideas are just plain fun and will leave you wanting more.

-Eliot Johnson