Thumbprint #1

Credits:

Created by: Joe Hill
Written by: Jason Ciaramelia
Artwork: Vic Malhotra
Lettered by: Robbie Robbins
 
This was an interesting comic book.  Although it was the first issue, not a lot happened.  As far as it being an introduction issue, we really only met the main character and her pig of a boss.

That being the case, this review will not be in the normal format.

So, here we go:

OUR STORY

This story is the confession of Mallory Grennan.  A Private First Class in the Army who has returned home from deployment in Iraq.  A deployment, I might add, that she is not completely proud of. 

This is a tough chick.  Seriously.  She can hold her own against any man.  But, it seems that just like anyone with a conscience, regret finally gets the better of her once she returns home.  Let’s just say she wasn’t a banner person while she was deployed.

She’s also the daughter of an Army Vet.  A medic that served in Vietnam.  She kinda seems to have this thing about not wanting yet needing his approval but, here’s the thing…she got home just in time to bury him.  So, no judgment day for her.

Now, she has her old job back at the local VFW where all the men who drink there knew or served with her Dad and her boss, a huge chauvinistic pig who is married and has four kids, is constantly trying to get her into bed and has been since before she went to Iraq.

All of this info takes up almost the whole first issue with the exception of the thumbprint.

Mallory gets an envelope in her mailbox (it wasn’t mailed, it was placed there) and all that is in it is a piece of paper with a thumbprint on it.

She swears up and down she recognizes the thumbprint but can’t quite place it.  And whoever sent it seems to be taunting her.

It’s a good start to a story.  We get just enough about our character to get a feel for who she is but, not bogged down in details such as what her best friend’s cousin’s boyfriend’s brother’s dog’s name is like Stephen King tends to do.  (Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Stephen King.  But, we all have to admit, it takes the man 400-900 pages to set up a character description because he tells us useless details like what the character was wearing on a Tuesday forty years before the story took place and that the sweater had a tiny insignificant snag in the elbow of the sleeve.) 

We also get right to the story and the suspense instead of having to wait until the second or third issue, which seems to sometimes happen.

We are being told the story from Mallory’s point of view, which I like because it’s a nice change from just reading a story.

The artwork, on the other hand, is not my favorite.  It’s not very detailed, except for the thumbprint.  It’s very dark with lots of negative space being used.  Truly not my favorite style.  It’s also very monotone.  Sort of like the military, how everything kind of looks the same.

The bad news is, I have to get online and search for the second issue of this series because I found this in the bargain bin at Vintage Stock.  So, I’m not sure when the review of #2 will be up but, I will be working on getting ahold of that.

Thanks for reading!!!

RATINGS

Overall 3/5
Story 4/5
Artwork 2/5