Broken Frontier

Why is it that in every crazy town, it takes an equally crazy individual to save it?

The town is being overrun. Bad elements and people have taken over and more and more arrive everyday. Yet, somewhere, a glimmer of hope seems to be coming from the insane asylum. Although, maybe "hope" is a strong word considering the "hero" is a mute in a mad house. Then again, when the town is in shambles, you tend to take whatever help you can get. But before our hero can arise from the ashes of his life that has been cast aside by even those supposed to help him, someone or something must first show up and make him realize just what needs to be done and how to do it.

The writing of Mark Teague and Derek McCaw does exactly what it needs to in this opening issue. Readers get a nice overview of the town and are shown the underlying problems. But before getting into too much detail about that, they throw the focus of the issue squarely onto the main character. This is a good touch because it immediately brings readers closer to Tony and his unique situation. We get a good glimpse not only of the character, but also of how those who are immediately around him interact with (or react to) him. The dialogue never feels forced, and they make good use of the setting to add a little humor to the situation.

In terms of the artwork though, this book seems a bit off. It is well produced – clean and easy to follow. Not only that, they do a very nice stylized subjective view when we see the world through Tony’s eyes. However, the problem lies in the rest of the design, which seems to still be searching for a distinct look. At times, it feels too cartoonish and clean when a bit more linework and a more realistic look would really benefit. This is even more confusing when compared to Dorothy, the other release from Illusive Arts (yes, I know it’s unfair to compare them, but it’s bound to happen). In fact, one can even see a bit of the computer aided visuals, especially early on in the book, and it left me curious as to why the technique wasn’t used a little more.

One final note about the book deals with the cover. The image on the cover of the book is never once seen throughout the book itself. One can only assume that it will be our hero at a later date, but considering the end of this issue seems to mark just the start of his journey, it might have been best to use something more in line with what was to come in the interior of the book.

All in all, despite its flaws, Tony Loco is an impressive debut from Mark Teague and Derek McCaw. We get a nice overview and a good introduction to the main character. Tony Loco has a bit of a journey ahead of him, but it certainly looks like it’ll be fun to watch.