Silver #1

Silver #1 © Nigel Lowrey

Silver #1:
Nigel Lowrey

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Juvenile The main protagonists (at least I assume so, as one of them is the Silver of the title) are a basically a double act that come over like a couple of bickering teenagers. I like this as it adds an element of fun to the mix; it's curious mix as well. Nigel's art style veers toward the mainstream, & would not look out of place (baring the occasional, but rare slip of draughtsmanship) in your local comic emporium where the spandex crew hangs out. There are some nice cartoony flourishes & exaggerations that work quite well. All in all it appears to be a comic that is determined not to take itself too seriously. This is a bit at odds with the story in which this is played out as it's a bloody murder mystery - good against evil sort of thing.
There's some playing with the structure & layout of the page for timing & storytelling, but then I came across a page where there's a nice quite build up; a number of small panels with a lot of detail to slow the timing more a good level of detail to slow the eye a little. They depict someone getting into a car, finding the key in a pocket & is just about to turn the key in the ignition, when WHAM! someone jumps on the bonnet from a great height. Now... that "WHAM!" should be a big splash panel. Impact! Shock! Nice bits of crumpling car flying about as a nice counter the previous detail... That would be logical, but no... "WHAM!" is a small, crammed, almost apologetic panel. The car driver's shock reaction is bigger & the leaper's mean look over his shoulder at the driver in response is bigger still... Eh? Is there something more important about the 'mean look'? This is the implicit message from the layout...
It may seem miserly of me to criticise this one page, but it is indicative of the comic as a whole... Although there's some pretty good draughsmanship, story & humour, the comic lacks some impact due to the way that it is presented. Nigel seems to like to play with layout, but sometimes he seems to show a lack of understanding as to the consequences to the narrative flow.
An interesting & honest part of the comic (in terms of a view into Nigel's working) comes when the main story is over. We get 'behind the scenes pages' that shows his initial & aborted start-ups to the story. Characters that do not play a part in the finished story are there & an existing character gets more 'background'. These elements are missing from the wider story & allude to elements that you might not pick up on initial reading. It's an interesting insight into Nigel's creative processes.
mooncat.

Silver #1: 30 A4 pages, side stapled.

Recieved at ZUM! HQ:
17/1/00

Ł1.50 (+P+P?)

Nigel Lowrey, 2 Beacham Rd, Holmers Farm Estate, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4PF