SHADES OF BLUE #7
"Winter, Part One"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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AMP Comics
Writers: James S. Harris & Rachel Nacion
Artist: Cal Slayton
Price: $2.95 US |
This book is just on the cusp of hooking me, but there are a few elements that just don't quite click for me. Harris and Nacion have managed to tap into the same teen super-hero tone that Brian Michael Bendis excels with in Ultimate Spider-Man every month. The script and the art just need to be... refined a little more. And then, Shades of Blue will really take off.
There's a new student in school... Ilsa Daniel. All of the other kids call her the Ice Princess because of her cold attitude, but what they don't know is that she's driven by her father to focus on and excel at the sport of figure skating. A mysterious force has taken an interest in her, though, causing her life to take a weird and dangerous turn. Meanwhile, Heidi's liberal parents misinterpret their daughter's recent unusual behavior.
Slayton employs a simple design approach here, but that simplicity makes it a believable one. The Ice Princess's costume at the end of the book looks just like a skater's costume... so much so that I'm puzzled as to why it couldn't have been something Ilsa owned. Slayton's bright style suits the lighter tone of the book, but it sometimes comes off as a little stiff. While the grey tones add depth to the art, they also add a small degree of dreariness that detracts from that brighter tone. I'd also like to see more variety in the character design. Everyone looks the same, just with different hairstyles, it seems.
The interplay between Heidi and her parents was not only funny, but it added credibility to this quirky little super-hero saga. It also helps to draw the reader into the life of the title character. I found Ilsa's creepy father-daughter relationship to be particularly well played, and Harris and Nacion's decision to toss an odd twist into that relationship was intriguing as well.
On the other hand, two weird forces injecting themselves into her life seemed a bit too much. And I'm honestly not clear on whether or not the reader is meant to sympathize with Ilsa or to detest her. She seems victimized, but her rejection of Heidi and K.T.'s kindness didn't really work with that image. Speaking of K.T., her superficial nature doesn't seem like a good fit with Heidi's down-to-earth appeal and sense of responsibility.
Note: This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
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