Thirteen Minutes focused on weekly reviews of Creator-Owned Comics from 2005 to 2015. Critic @ Poopsheet Foundation 2009-2014. Critic @ Comics Bulletin 2013-2016. Freelance Writer/Editor @ DC/Vertigo, Stela, Madefire, Dark Horse, Boom! Studios, and Studio 12-7 2012-Present. Follow @ThirteenMinutes
10.15.2013
Buzzkill #2 [Advance Review]
Buzzkill #2 (Dark Horse): I’m really enjoying this new mini-series
from Donny Cates, Mark Reznicek, and Geoff Shaw, and the second issue is even
stronger than the first. It's ostensibly about a “superhero” (we use that term loosely considering the tragedy we've only seen in flashback) who gains powers when
he’s drunk (or ingests any type of
drug, come to find out) and has also come to function as a semi-reliable narrator at
best. As he conveniently balances telling the readers his story visually during the course of the comic, but
omitting certain verbal details to wash his identity whilst weaving the tale into his AA meetings,
Buzzkill is ultimately a story about dragging our personal secrets into the
harsh light of day. It’s the apprehension of honesty, losing our true sense of
self, and fear of other people’s perceptions. Cates and Reznicek are clever
writers, slowly and deliberately revealing more information as the issues progress, which tends to have an impact
on what we’ve seen before, why the protagonist prefers hot chocolate so much,
why he’s able to detect something the audience already knows with heightened
senses, etc., which all brings a playful interactive quality to the story. That
type of storytelling magic continues with what becomes an incredibly fast-paced
issue, from an assault by the rogues gallery, to sourcing alcohol as fuel for
the duel, to subverting the notion of a 12-step program based in part on a belief
system. Geoff Shaw’s art is the perfect style to keep pace with such a stylish
script. It’s full of gritty textured lines that are somewhere in between the
emotional heft of Garry Brown and the stylized sharp angles of a Tradd Moore or
a Sean Murphy. It’s energetic stuff, with some amazingly drawn women in
particular. Lauren Affe’s work is an added gut-punch of visceral color. With
Eric’s tongue-in-cheek rotating names and the outright hilarity of the new character we
meet (I won’t spoil it!), it’s a signpost for a level of self-awareness about
the book’s deconstructionist tendencies. This is how you do it, folks. “Pew!
Pew! Pew!” Grade A.
Justin Giampaoli was an award-winning critic at Thirteen Minutes and Comics Bulletin for over a decade. As a writer, his work includes the self-published crime caper The Mercy Killing with artist Tim Goodyear, introductions and bonus content for New York Times Bestseller DMZ at DC/Vertigo, the alt-history epic Rome West and the sci-fi drama Starship Down, both with artist Andrea Mutti at Dark Horse. He recently edited the geo-political thriller California, Inc. with writer Arthur Ebuen and artist Dave Law at Studio 12-7, and was a panelist at San Diego Comic Con 2024. His unpublished work includes cyberpunk sci-fi classic RoboCop with artist Jorge Coehlo at Boom! Studios, and a modernization of Edgar Allan Poe detective fiction for comics and video games in The Murders in Ravenstown with artist Matthew Southworth at Madefire.
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