Broken Frontier

Featuring four introductory tales crafted by up-and-coming Milwaukee creators, Sawdust offers the classics: heroes, the supernatural, specialist agents, and ninja!

This is the first offering from the boys at Workshed Studio, and serves as a preliminary test-run for the many characters, concepts, and universes as created by the veritable line-up of talent as listed in the above credits. As with any anthology, the quality of the stories found within is erratic, but then again, a large part of the draw or revulsion from tales as paradigmatically constructed as those in Sawdust will be emphatically relative. The creators are obvious fans of the B-movie staples, and here they try their hands at producing their own, personal renditions of otherwise over-exposed genres; in this way, the reader’s response may rest more on their natural inclination towards or against the respective subject matter. That said, let’s take a look at the four stories collected in issue #1.

First up is writer/artist Radamés Malavé, Jr’s Homecoming, featuring the mystical ninja Hikagé of the mystical ninja team, Ebon Guard. Malavé is a self-confessed Punisher fanatic and his love for the street crime comic shows. For a protagonist whose main purpose is to protect this plane of existence from a species of extra-dimensional demons called Synneaters, it’s an odd choice for the creator to introduce his character with an eight-pager focusing on a fight with a low-level Milwaukee street gang (Milwaukee hasgangs?!?). The art is clean and polished, definitely a good style to chronicle an urban vigilante arbiter of justice, and if that was indeed what Hikagé was, then the story would hold a much greater allure. As it is, though, the action only just begins before the dreaded "to be continued…" caption rears its ugly head without our hero having lifted a finger to tip his hand that he is a shadow-controlling, mystical warrior. In fact, the only way the reader can know such a fact is by a one-page character bio at the end, which breaks down an entire universe of teammates and evil beings not even mentioned in the short story itself. It’s not a poorly done tale, mind you, but a baffling and possibly even outright awful choice for a first look at an apparently much more grandiose story concept.

Following up on this is For Want of a Name by Justin Riley and Joel Cotejar and starring the character Fade – a reformed thief and current anti-hero of sorts who, armed with a pairing of magical objects, tries to rescue the earth from an unknown and unseen enemy. The story is incredibly brief (a mere four pages and one of them is a splash!) and offers little more than a momentary introduction to a seemingly inordinately complex idea. The story and art are both solidly executed (my personal favorite of the bunch), but this one could have used an equally as extensive character bio as Hikagé received. Unfortunately, while there is a bio, it’s suspiciously frugal on the details. So by far the most beguiling of the bunch, though perhaps this is merely a natural consequence of its brevity.

Third on the agenda is Sinister Addictions by Justin Riley with art by Alan Evans. The plot follows a young couple the night they suffer a gruesome assault that ends with the man (one Michael Kiniski) seemingly untouched, and the woman mysteriously vanished without a trace. Enter: Worldwide Solutions, a semi-secret, unaffiliated organization that hunts the supernatural. They inform Michael that his love has been turned into a vampire, and that only he – with a bite wound fresh on his forearm – can lead them to the original source maker. Riley’s story is a touch rougher here than in the Fade tale, and this is reflected (or perhaps vice versa) in Evans’ art, which is even rougher. Interestingly enough, Evans comes through in the final three pages of this eight-pager, brandishing a darker, cleaner style than the thin-lined, awkward figures of the first half. Regardless, the story, for me, was the weakest and most clumsily paced with a concept that held little innovation or excitement. Again, this may merely be my own reaction to a somewhat tired idea, and I hold out hope that the plot will race ahead to more captivating territory in its second installment.

Finally we come to the one self-contained story of the issue, and the longest by far – its sixteen pages, nearly a comic in and of itself! Certified, starring the Worldwide Solutions agent Hazard in a solo tale of romance made almost right, is written by Jason DeGroot with art by Giuseppe Pica. The events follow Hazard (aka John Perezi in civilian life) on a rare "day off." He calls his kids, argues with his ex-wife, is ignored by his latest on-the-side squeeze, and then – just as things could hardly get worse – fate leads him directly to the possible love of his life. Cue music and off-the-wall romantic comedy ensues. Unquestionably the most satisfying yarn for both the obvious reasons (length, self-contained), as well as being the most inspired in its execution. The art is the most inclusive, with an attention to detail and background missing from the others. The dialogue is witty and natural, maintaining a rhythm and flow that drew me in by the second page and didn’t let me go.

All in all, with 36 pages of story alongside four pages of concept bios, Sawdust offers a serious bang for the comic reader’s buck. The talent showcased within is varying – inconsistent and yet appealing in treacherous intervals – which could be frustrating, but it’s still a lot of trial for a mere three bucks, and only some of it will read as error for any discerning reader. The series is meant to run for four issues, which should wrap up all the dangling plots from this inaugural installment in due time; hopefully they’ll mix up the lengths of the respective stories to keep interest high. Either way, it’s a small commitment to make, and a true assemblage of burgeoning talent in each and every issue.

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For more information on Sawdust, visit www.workshedstudio.com