Survival Fetish – Spoiler-Free Preview Review
Mysteries unfold in a tropical paradise turned sniper alley. For unknown reasons, Hawaii has been taken over by militia and gangs that have covered the streets with snipers. For many, it means hunkering down and making a new life in towers or complexes but our main character it opens an opportunity. He’s taken his parkour pastime and turned it into a living getting himself and his cargo past the snipers from one building to another.
From just the first book, even with cultivating setting, characters and the mystery of what brought Hawaii to become a shooting gallery, Patrick Kindlon has crafted an elaborate plot that feels like a high seas mystery. In many ways, the buildings of survivors are like islands in an asphalt ocean, the snipers are pirates or maybe a natural disaster … or something else. Antonio Fuso‘s mix of minimalist open spaces and defined people reflects the notion of what we see and know of the characters in the book, it gives me a feeling of warmth in humanity working together to survive while in the open unknown of the city. A place that they should by all rights feel at home, safe, and comfortable, but because of whatever caused the change the outdoors is as foreign as the middle of the ocean.
What’s the Voltage? Art / Writing / Readability / Potential
The covers look great, in a less is more way. Personally, I am a big fan of the Tyler Boss cover. Sending the notion of a survival situation with vacation pamphlet “Aloha from Hawaii” adds that tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition I enjoy. The interior art matches the covers, and I get the choice of using the black and white inks, but it may be a disconnect for some readers. Art 4.0 / 5. Going into the book I had two questions firmly on my mind 1) What is the relation of “Fetish” in the title? and 2) What’s going on to turn Hawaii into what you can see. I can’t really say I can answer either of those, but I can feel better about not knowing.
I had no idea going into it that it was going to be a mystery title, and didn’t until the stinger at the end of the issue. Hey no spoilers, but it makes it all worthwhile. And overall I found it to be a very refreshing read that has me waiting for book 2, Writing 5 / 5. The book has some very dynamic pages breaking the borders and it shows the action really well, it can be a risk for some, but I feel it really pays off here, Readability 4.5 / 5 . Potential after reading the book, I’m excited to see what is in store for it and what they can fit into the expected 5 issue run but I feel there is more going on than can fit into 5 issues, Potential 4.0 / 5
