Innocent Tales #1
Written by: Gavin McCumiskey
Art by: Anthony O’Neill, Ger Hankey & S. Rhoades
Letters by: Gavin McCumiskey & Ger Hankey
Cover by: Tommie Kelly
Alternate Covers by: Shawn Langley, Dennis Coyle III & JP Jordan
Published by: Green Monkey Comics
One of the hardest things to do, especially in the current economic craziness, is to get a project off the ground. To find a voice in an already over full crowd and we at FTN must say, fair play to Gavin McCumiskey for getting Innocent Tales off the ground with his new company Green Monkey Comics.
It’s an ambitious project: three dark tales, written by McCumiskey and illustrated by three artists: Anthony O’Neill, Ger Hankey and S. Rhoades. Lending itself to black and white, the three stories have an undeniable air of sinister darkness, but do they hold up?
Well, like any project’s first step (remember the first episode of Buffy? Shudder) it’s far from perfect. McCumiskey’s writing is the main focus here, since he pens all three stories and he proves that he has a dark vein running through his work and a funny one too, that said, he doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done before, but he does prove he’s not afraid to write dark and to play with convention; none of the tales will break new ground, but there is definite evidence that, given the right subject matter, he’s a writer who’s not afraid to paint with black.
Again, with the art, the panels by all three artists are detailed and cinematic, often opting for frames filled with kinetic energy – especially Hankey’s in the second story – and this helps the stories move along, but again the feeling is that, given some more time the art, from all artists, could become something to look out for.
Overall, a dark and darkly funny comic book put together by four men who are passionate and talented and, given time and a chance for follow up issues, will become ones to watch.
Oh, and a special mention to Tommie Kelly for a superb front cover that captures the tone and also makes the book leap out from the shelves.
3 out of 5 Nerds
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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