Welcome to the latest installment of Preview Reviews.
This week we have a two great books to review for you. The first is Eight Billion Genies #1 from Image Comics, and the second is Grim #1 which is from Boom! Studios.
You can find these books at your LCS or wherever you buy books on May 11, 2022.
Also the rest of the #NewNumberOnes for May are here.
Eight Billion Genies #1
Image Comics
Written by Charles Soule
Art by Ryan Browne
Letters by Chris Crank
Cover Art by Browne
Original Solicitation:
If you had one wish…what would you wish for? Now, what if everyone else had one wish too? That’s EIGHT BILLION GENIES, the new eight-issue series from CHARLES SOULE & RYAN BROWNE. At exactly the same moment, everyone on earth gets a genie and one wish. All hell breaks loose, in a very entertaining way…and that’s just the beginning. Buckle in for the wildest ride of the year!
PCS Review:
This book feels very much like a book that was made by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne, and that is a wonderful development. This issue is a excellent mix of a high concept global events that localizes the reader to a single location. Charles Soule has a wonderful habit of encouraging his readers to dream about the impossible, and then just as the bubbling wonderment begins to float them off, he slams down rules and consequences for touching the untouchable.
Ryan Browne is a perfect partner for Soule’s high concept scheming. His rendering of a world that experiences eight billion individual genies is brilliant. Besides the grand chaos that he brings to the page, Browne also creates endearing characters that help with the localization of the story. Crank is a great letterer and does excellent work in this book.
We are definitely interested in seeing how this world develops and what happens within the Lampwick Bar and Grill.
Grim #1
Boom! Studios
Written by Stephanie Phillips
Art by Flaviano
Colors by Rico Renzi
Letters by Tom Napolitano
Cover Art by Flaviano
Original Solicitation:
Jessica Harrow is dead. But her journey has only just begun!
PCS Review:
Stephanie Phillips is rapidly becoming a superstar comic writer. She has had works at Image, Dark Horse, AfterShock, Mad Cave, and of course she is the regular writer of Harley Quinn among others at DC. In additon to all of that excellence, her latest new series from Boom! Studios has the markings of an epic story. Grim lives up to its name. It starts out somewhat benign enough but as the pages turn the reader becomes more captivated and invested with every panel.
I don’t want to give anything away. Judging by the official solicitation, that is also the publisher’s wish. But this book is captivating. The opening reveal of the lead character is spectacular. This issue is very well crafted. While there is a longer multiple issue story being initiated in this book, there are some elements that lead to the feeling that there is more going on in it than just introductions.
I want to go back to the character of Jessica Harrow. I love her. She is immediately endearing despite her perhaps unsavory role in the universe. Flaviano’s visual characterization is fantastic. There is a feeling that is imbued into her that is simultaneously effervescent and ominous. The characters “move” across the page with a naturalistic flair.
Rico Renzi does a fantastic job with the color work. He delivers a nice contrast that is accomplished by highlighting the characters and rendering a washed out background. Tom Napolitano does a great job with the lettering. It is a well done example of quality dialogue balloon placement until something happens in the last act of the book that he knocks out of the park.
I have high hopes for this book. It is an excellent first issue and has us hooked with a compelling story and interesting characters.
