SNAKE!!!!!
[Thanks too eganthevile1 & Galamoth for adding the info to this comic so I wouldn't have to find it!]
I was exposed to this comic series because I purchased the Escape from New York Special Edition DVD and got this comic free. So why not read it, I like having a broad review range. From DC to Marvel, Licensed to Indie, no one is safe from my review.
First off, this review will be biased because every guy loves SNAKE!!!!! So even if it was bad it would of gotten a 2.5. I am not going to lie, Snake is one of the greatest Anti-Heroes and I have reviewed a lot of Anti-Heroes from Jonah Hex, John Constantine and Lady Gaga. I am glad I can now add Snake to the list.
No longer trapped in New York, Snake finds a new hell to escape from and is now traveling East coast USA (New Jersey). This comic was a interesting story that is for sure. I was surprised that I enjoyed William O'Neill as a writer, I know him more as an artist. The co-creator of Citizen Pain, with Joshua Dysart on their series Violent Messiahs. This comic would further the Violent Messiahs connection by having the most recent artists Tone Rodriguez do the pencils to this series. It would make sense since Violent Messiahs is a similar comic in the tone of "gritty, sci-fi crime" story. Sorry if I got off track, you may not know the creators. William O'Neill's writing was impressive for his first writing job. By being an artist I am told gives writer/artist a weird synergy of story telling, this is why a lot of cartoonist are great story tellers. O'Neill's writing was written well for Tone Rodriguez to create a very cinematic fun sci-fi Dystopian future. Maybe the best example I can tell you is a page where there is only three panels. Two 1/3 of the page high and one lager panel taking up the rest of 2/3 of the page. The first of the two smaller panels is a small vertical rectangle and in this panel all you see is the drivers side review mirror and the caption "Snake doesn't bother to look back. The second panel is a horizontal rectangle that takes up the rest of the area, Snake looking forward while driving (camera on his right-side) with 4 caption boxes containing "Snake never looks back.", "Too much pain.", "Too much war" and "Too much history." The big panel is a highway scene leading to Atlantic City, with two caption boxes. One saying "This constant forward momentum eventually brings him to Atlantic City" and "Gaudy, Vulgar sin by the sea Atlantic city". Great pacing and great visuals are matched with poetic at times, but expected macho dialogue. There were some really poorly written scenes and dialogue, but I can over look it for a rookie.
The art was great. I enjoyed the additional sketch pages and the wax paper pin-ups. It was a nice surprise for a promo issue.
The Ending was an interesting cliff hanger, but not one good enough for me to hunt down the next issue or the trade. This was a fun comic for sure and this artist duo impressed me enough to have positive words. This series really should of kept the full Violent Messiah team and have Joshua Dysart as the writer.
3.5 out of 5. Sorry guys, I won't be looking for issue two that hard. But it was a nice treat.
Cheers!
- Silkcuts
