Broken Frontier

"Kelvin" Melvin can sense people who are likely to spontaneously combust. Surprisingly, Melvin has seen his fair share of people on fire, and considers himself to be an expert on the subject. Emily's tracking down the story for the news, and the two become unlikely allies in an attempt to discover the truth.

Spontaneous is a book that's flown neatly under the radar, having no brand or established characters, and featuring a writer and artist combo that you've likely seen do work before, but couldn't name off the top of your head, at a publisher that's not one of the top two and doesn't drum up interest via licensed properties. This is a shame, as it offers up a quality book that is a visual treat.

Issue #2 decidedly lowers the action factor, in comparison to the first issue. While two people burst into flames in the previous issue (one taking their house with them), this one features no spontaneous combustions, but that doesn't lower the tension. Things heat up towards the end of the issue, which works well. As this issue is decidedly more for explaining Melvin's past and looking a little further into the reasoning of the spontaneous combustions, it provides a nice balance to the action-heavy first part.

Easily, the high point of the book is Brett Weldele's artwork. Mixing loose inks with watercolors gives the book a washed-out hue to indie-styled colors, almost mixing a Francis Manapul-esque (albeit muted) color scheme with Becky Cloonan pen work. The result is great, even if the book leans a little too heavy on blues for the normal world and oranges for the fire. Not too much of the spectrum is used, but in the end, it's used effectively. Harris's writing isn't at fault, per se, but Weldele's art could tell a story without dialogue. The book is at an, admittedly, awkward part of its progression; it's past the introductory parts, but the characters divert halfway through the book and don't have anyone to talk to. Chunks are people talking to themselves, or talking to people that can't really respond. An enjoyable panel features Emily talking aloud, trying to figure out how to write up the article and almost pitching phrasing to herself, proving that scenes with only one character can work. For the most part, the second half seems almost claustrophobic with characters talking aloud to themselves, revealing pertinent plot points to the reader.

Spontaneous is at the beginning of something good, but it stands to see how far it goes. Will it just be a pretty book with no lasting plot, or will the characters eventually endear themselves to the reader? Will it stay as a low-level X-Files concept, or rise to something you can suggest for the writing, not just the art?