Thursday, January 12, 2012

Whispers #1

Now we'll take a step off the beaten road(I've been using the phrase a lot lately...) and take a look at the first issue of Whispers, which is written and drawn by Joshua Luna and published by Image. With the way Marvel and DC have been pricing their books(Marvel!) and using inferior writers(DC!), expect to see a lot of Image, Dark Horse, Boom!, and other indie comic company's books spotlighted here at the blog. You never know when you'll find that diamond in the rough.

Whispers #1:

What Happened: We meet a guy named Sam Webber, who, besides having Obsessive-compulsive disorder, has been having very strange dreams lately... In these dreams, he can seemingly watch people and events that are taking place while he's asleep. Sam tells his circle of friends this news, but his friends, including his ex-girlfriend, Lily(they have that, “still friends” thing going on), see this as crazy Sam acting, well, crazy. Seeing as that Sam's friends have real problems, they aren't exactly keen on listening to Sam's idiocy, so he ends up leaving. Later that night, Sam goes to sleep and sure enough finds himself able to leave his body. He floats around aimlessly for a bit, before he realizes that he could teleport his ghost form to others. Sam first goes to see his mother(who he's estranged from), and is surprised to learn that he can “hear” her thoughts, and can, to a mild degree, influence them. From there, Sam finds an ex-girlfriend named Vanessa, who is in trouble with a drug dealer after stealing drugs from the dealer. Sam nervously manages to get Vanessa to promise to pay the dealer back for the stolen merchandise, while Sam wonders if he should have interfered at all. This issue ends with Sam heading to Lily's home and standing outside wondering if he should intrude on her.

The Good: The concept here was very interesting. Even after just this one issue, Joshua Luna has presented Sam as a very well-rounded character. I don't believe I've ever read a comic book where the lead has OCD, so that's different. Even though we didn't see too much of them, we did get to learn a bit about Sam's circle of friends, namely Lily and Rico.

The Bad: The cliffhanger was... odd... It doesn't exactly get me pumped for the next issue. I mean didn't Sam spy on Lily the prior night? Unless she's sleeping with Rico, I don't get what would be so exciting in her home that warranted the story ending there.

The Verdict: This was a very good comic. The premise is interesting, and I'm curious to see what Sam does with his strange powers. So while the end of this issue didn't really set my world on fire, I'll definitely be picking up the second issue(which drops in March I believe) to see what happens next.

Score: 8 out of 10.The terrible things I'd do if I had sleep telepathy......

9 comments:

  1. Well, 8 out of 10, not bad at all. I am glad you enjoyed your first taste of the Luna Bros writing. I think they're style of writing is very different and odd lol, but I love it. Maybe if you get a few issues in and really enjoy it you'd like "Girls" written and drawn by the two brothers. Now THAT was a great read. If you wanted I'd be more than happy to send you the trades so you can save a lil money. :)

    I seriously need to get my hands on a copy lol. I think I'll go hit my shops Facebook up to get a copy lol.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Out of curiousity, what was Girls about, Lisha? I figure you'd be the best person to ask.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Man, where do I even begin without getting excited and telling the whole story...lol. I'll just send you a synopsis.

    It tells the story of the people of Pennystown, a community of 63 who are cut off from the rest of the world and attacked by a group of naked, flesh eating, egg-laying women, as well as other bizarre dangers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, that sounds just plain bizarre! I've got to ask, how did you even hear about that series Lisha!?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lol. Bizarre indeed. But it was really good.

    And if I recall Marc recommeded it, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Huh... Everyuthing about that is bizarre! :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. lol. But it was a really good read. Let me know if you want to borrow them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Forgetting about the cliffhanger I think Whispers was a very solid first issue. There are many things that I found interesting about it so I decided to review it on my blog:
    www.artbyarion.blogspot.com

    Feel free to leave me a comment,

    cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agreed with pretty much everything you said in your review of this one, Arion. The premise IS really interesting and the art was wonderful. I'm very happy I decided to give this issue a shot.

    ReplyDelete