I am really impressed with the first title that launched from the DC Focus line. Hard Time represents a wonderful blend of super-hero genre elements with strong characterization and biting social commentary. Kinetic boasts a lot of potential as well. Puckett's characterization here is fascinating. It's remarkably easy to see oneself in a teen who lives a life of physical and social agony. Puckett goes awry, though, by failing to demonstrate what the hook is, what's meant to keep us coming back for another issue. I don't know remotely what this book is about, and therefore, I don't know why I should peruse the pages of #2.
It's a new school year, and Tom Morell is hoping it'll start off better than the others before. He hopes he won't stand out as different, that his classmates won't treat him differently, like a leper, that his mother won't continue to define his life by his illnesses. Like many teens, though, Tom finds only disappointment, but he also finds a glimmer of hope in a girl named Kirsten. She doesn't know about his illnesses. She doesn't know the others call him a "gimp." And she doesn't know that his mother gives him injections of his medications several times a day.
It's a delight to sample Warren Pleece's work again. I enjoyed it on such DC/Vertigo titles as Mobfire and Deadenders, and the rather sullen tone of the storytelling here certainly plays to his strengths. Actually, I'm struck by what similar tone there is in his style as compared to that of Hard Time artist Brian Hurtt. Their simpler but grounded work create the impression that there's an overall "house" style for DC Focus. That's reinforced by the color scheme as well. Each panel is dominated by one color, and the rest of the elements are presented seemingly only in grey tones (which isn't the case... Haberlin uses cool blues as well). The unusual coloring approach works well with the overall tone of the stories, but I can't help but wonder if it'll grow old in a hurry.
Puckett takes us inside the life of a teen with the ultimate of frustrations. It's difficult enough to find oneself during adolescence, but Tom Morell is saddled with an identity that he understandably loathes. His mother, his peers and others won't let him exist as anything other than a patient. Normalcy is actually within his grasp, but everyone around him blocks his way. It's no wonder he goes too far in his effort to attain it.
I'm guessing Puckett is writing more toward the trade paperback format than the episodic one here, because the premise has yet to reveal itself. The characterization of the main character is strong, but his mother is so completely unlikable and insensitive that it defies belief. Mind you, Puckett has piqued my interest a bit, but I know there has to be more to Tom Morell's story than his health (or lack thereof).
