Let’s be honest: comics are no longer for kids. Kids are into all different kinds of media today, but comics are not one of them. That’s not to say they won’t give comics a chance. At Halloween, I like to give out comics to little trick-r-treaters. Their faces light up when they see a comic book for the first time. I love it. Question is; are kids being exposed to comics amidst everything else they have available to them?
Jed McPherson’s JACOB represents something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time at IndieComiX. That is, review and expose quality web-comics. There are mountains of web-comics all over the nets. I’m sure many of you have series that you follow, so you know this for yourself. Web-comics are everywhere. Maybe you’ve even given it a go – wrote your own series. But, when it comes to quality, that’s a matter of subjective discretion.
Of course, there’s the mainstream web-comics. Your Marvel, your DC. Throw in Dark Horse, Image, and a whole slew of others calling themselves “indies”, and there’s no shortage of well-produced web-comics. All very well written and illustrated by some of the top writers and artists working in the industry.
The web-comics I am talking about are well off the beaten path. These are the creators beating on the doors of the industry and getting rejection after rejection. Not for lack of quality, that’s for sure.
Case in point: Jed McPherson’s JACOB.
Fabio’s art!
Each chapter, written by McPherson, is illustrated by a different artist. This may throw some off, as if there needs to be a consistency for visual story-telling. And I would like to note, there is a consistency here of visual style. For me, however, I am reminded of other forms of media. Television, for example. The Twilight Zone, to be specific. Each story brings with it a different creative team. Some movies are like that now. The ABCs of Death comes to mind. In comics, anthologies have largely been like that. Different stories, different creative teams. Read some of the old EC comics.
I mentioned above that comics are no longer for kids. JACOB is not for kids. This is horror for adults in the tradition of the movie SEVEN and the HELLRAISER comics published by Dark Horse back in the day, each chapter a complete short story.
Now, the only criticism I have is one of personal taste. As this is a web-comic, I’d like to see this series published in full color. But that’s a small criticism on my part. The story-telling is top notch.
So, get your ass to jedmcpherson.com and tell him IndieComiX sent ya!
JACOB
Self Published (web-comics)
Written and Lettered by: Jed McPherson
Art by: Fabio Guimaraes, Joseph Valesquez, Andre Stahlschmidt, Chris Shehan, Francesco Iaquinta, Diego Guerra, David T. Cabrera, Juanfransico Moyano Guerrero, Emily Pearson, Anna Wieszczyk
Reviewed by: David Paul
Summary: Meet Jacob, a serial killer who’s got a penchant for playing with his victims!
