Written by Wes Locher
Artists: Ken Perry (Curiosity), Mike Hatfield (Intelligence), Damon Threet (By Design), Stan Chou (Compliance)
When we think about comics that stand out, one word tends to be the thing we pay the most attention to: Innovation. Wes Locher is back at it with yet another indie project that is doing something I’ve personally never seen before with his new project Innovation. The idea behind this is Mr. Locher has written a totally original story about R.D.S.L. (Radical Development Scientific Laboratories Inc.), an extremely shady corporation behind some of the biggest advances in modern science. The problem that is, they aren’t using their resources for good. Innovation is a group of four separate stories about R.D.S.L. and how they’re affecting people’s lives. Locher wrote the entire thing, but he uses a different artist in every story in an effort to not only discover new talent, but to give aspiring artists and outlet to hone their craft.
I’ve covered a few of Wes’s projects now and he continues to impress me with the originality of all his work. I’ve never seen anything quite like Innovation before and doubt I ever will. I was mildly confused when I read the first story, but after you see the book in its entirety the pieces are already beginning to fall into place; the R.D.S.L. is BAD news. I’ll never quite understand where Locher draws his inspiration from in these stories of his but I love feeling like I’m reading something entirely new every time I check out one of these endeavors of his. Innovation is everything the name says it is and more; I personally can’t wait to get my hands on more of this!
The art in each of these short stories differs on every level of the spectrum. I have a really difficult time picking out my favorite! In Curiosity, Ken Perry does a wonderful job capturing something that could be everyday life. What I got out of it was that we’re all much smaller than we think and it could all go away if we let our emotions and thoughts get the best of us. In Intelligence Make Hatfield’s cartoony style fits in perfectly with the game show theme of the short. In By Design Damon Threet gave me a really Jack Bauer/24ish vibe with the way he drew it and it turns out time was up for him! In Compliance (my favorite story) our two scientists have their own personal set of life size Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots, but we find out what happens when we try to play God.
Innovation is a web-comic that can be found at www.innovationcomic.com. It’s definitely not a project like anything I’ve ever seen and it’s worth checking out just to see up and coming talent alone. Locher is an absolutely terrific writer that I’ll probably see on the cover of a Marvel or DC book in the future and ALL the artists do a great job with their respective stories. The first issue is free on their website and I’d definitely recommend checking it out!
4 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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