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A review by indiekay
Black Ice by Bradford D. Smith II
3.0
I received this comic as an eARC from Net Galley.
THE ART
The art style in this comic is really interesting - simple, yet very effective, with fantastic understanding of shape and a minimal use of shading. The main character, Oscar, is the most detailed subject in the entire comic, with his intricate hairstyle and layers of clothing, while most other people are often quick simple shapes reminiscent of Moomin. There are also really cool creature designs that Oscar can see around him, which look like smokey/wispy animals and monsters.
Panel work in the comic is excellent, too. In particular, there's great movement and a sense of urgency in the action scenes, and there's some really creative pages of Oscar dancing that were really fun.
THE PLOT
I feel like it's a little difficult to give this comic a full review, as I'm not sure enough has happened in the plot yet to really be able to talk about it in-depth.
Oscar is fleeing home after some sort of accident happened to him, which has given him bright blue eyes and some kind of ice powers, as well as the ability to see smoke creatures/spirits around him. He feels a pull to travel toward a giant wild fire nearby, and is taking multiple buses to get there. Most of this story takes place on buses, bus terminals, and hotels.
While traveling he questions what is happening to him. In the beginning of the story we see him reflect on how Black people are treated in his world, and how white people sometimes react to him with fear and distrust, as well as images of black people with the word MURDERED in bold over them. Then, we see some snip-bits of the incident that gave him his powers, as well as an argument he had with his mother over the fact that she'd read his journal and was angry at him for not disclosing to her that one of his friends is gay.
So there's a lot happening in the story between the racial discrimination Oscar faces, the vague hints toward his sexuality and his fight with his mother over it, the mystery as to how he got his powers and the woman he keeps seeing around, the mystery of what the smoke creatures are, and why he is being drawn towards these fires (and maybe there's a mystery as to what caused the fires too, who knows). And then the book ends with a WTF cliff-hanger.
CRITICISMS
Some of my problems I had with this comic were with the dialogue. It's often a bit stilted and confusing, and often when Oscar was thinking to himself I couldn't understand if he was just talking to himself or if he was hearing a second voice in his head. With a plot as convoluted as this one in, the dialogue often times made things more confusing instead of easy to understand.
I also think the blurb to this comic needs some work. There's a lot of commas in there that don't need to be there, and the way the blurb reads may end up scaring potential reads off.
I wish this comic had just a little bit more editing going on with the dialogue and blurb.
THE ART
The art style in this comic is really interesting - simple, yet very effective, with fantastic understanding of shape and a minimal use of shading. The main character, Oscar, is the most detailed subject in the entire comic, with his intricate hairstyle and layers of clothing, while most other people are often quick simple shapes reminiscent of Moomin. There are also really cool creature designs that Oscar can see around him, which look like smokey/wispy animals and monsters.
Panel work in the comic is excellent, too. In particular, there's great movement and a sense of urgency in the action scenes, and there's some really creative pages of Oscar dancing that were really fun.
THE PLOT
I feel like it's a little difficult to give this comic a full review, as I'm not sure enough has happened in the plot yet to really be able to talk about it in-depth.
Oscar is fleeing home after some sort of accident happened to him, which has given him bright blue eyes and some kind of ice powers, as well as the ability to see smoke creatures/spirits around him. He feels a pull to travel toward a giant wild fire nearby, and is taking multiple buses to get there. Most of this story takes place on buses, bus terminals, and hotels.
While traveling he questions what is happening to him. In the beginning of the story we see him reflect on how Black people are treated in his world, and how white people sometimes react to him with fear and distrust, as well as images of black people with the word MURDERED in bold over them. Then, we see some snip-bits of the incident that gave him his powers, as well as an argument he had with his mother over the fact that she'd read his journal and was angry at him for not disclosing to her that one of his friends is gay.
So there's a lot happening in the story between the racial discrimination Oscar faces, the vague hints toward his sexuality and his fight with his mother over it, the mystery as to how he got his powers and the woman he keeps seeing around, the mystery of what the smoke creatures are, and why he is being drawn towards these fires (and maybe there's a mystery as to what caused the fires too, who knows). And then the book ends with a WTF cliff-hanger.
CRITICISMS
Some of my problems I had with this comic were with the dialogue. It's often a bit stilted and confusing, and often when Oscar was thinking to himself I couldn't understand if he was just talking to himself or if he was hearing a second voice in his head. With a plot as convoluted as this one in, the dialogue often times made things more confusing instead of easy to understand.
I also think the blurb to this comic needs some work. There's a lot of commas in there that don't need to be there, and the way the blurb reads may end up scaring potential reads off.
I wish this comic had just a little bit more editing going on with the dialogue and blurb.