SUPERNATURAL LAW #35
"The Trial of the 800 lb. Gorilla!" & "Words Don't Do It Justice"
Recommended (7/10)
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Exhibit A Press
Writer/Artist: Batton Lash
Art assists: Trevor Nielsen
Editor: Jackie Estrada
Price: $2.50 US |
This is one of my favorite issues of Supernatural Law in months. The ideas that Lash explores here are pretty basic; the reader is given joke after joke after joke. But it never grows old. This issue offers some good old-fashioned comic-book fun. And having classic Golden and Silver Age artist Murphy Anderson contribute to a gorilla cover -- a proud comic-book tradition -- was the icing on the cake.
Alanna Wolf and Jeff Byrd, as a favor to Alanna's occasional boyfriend Chase Hawkins, represent a noted Bronx gangster at his criminal trial. They find that NIcky Gorillo might be more than they can handle, though, as his brain was recently transplanted into the body of an 800-pound gorilla. And in another story, Wolf and Byrd silently defend a bedroom monster from the accusation of the little boy whose room the monster calls home.
Somehow, I was really struck by the Archie-esque quality in Lash's work. His simple character designs are thoroughly emotive, and I suspect he's influence by a number of classic Archie artists, including the late Dan DeCarlo. It's a pleasure to see such a simple, cartoony approach applied to more than a teen comedy book. Lash's pages are dense, but they never seem cramped either. He gets the most storytelling he can out of a page with a plethora of panels.
I don't know what it is, but I never got tired of the gorilla/monkey gags. Lash hits us with some obvious gags -- the Planet of the Apes line was fun -- and some not so obvious ones (gotta love that Inherit the Wind reference). Sure, the tone of the "trial" was laughable; exactly what Nicky is accused of is never made clear, and the mechanics of the trial are all wrong. But the goofiness, the fun, of the story dominates for a cute read.
The silent story featuring a boy suing his bedroom monster was a good bit of fun as well. Lash makes the most of the silent story motif; a number of creators who contributed to Marvel's "Nuff Said" event last December should take note. He plays fast and loose with his own rules, and in the process, delivers an entertaining story that also makes the most out of the core premise of the book: lawyers who represent weird clients.
Note: This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
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