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PARADIGM #1
"An Opium Den Haze"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Image Comics
Writer: Matthew Cashel
Artist: Jeremy Haun
Additional Inks: Elizabeth Jacobson
Letters: Ed Lavallee
Price: $3.50 US/$5.25 CAN |
I was very impressed with Paradigm #1 when it came out from Two Irish Guys Press, and I'm just as impressed with it now that Image has picked it up. The first issue is pretty much the same from Image as it was when Cashel and Haun self-published it, save a slightly better paper stock that brings out the detail in Haun's artwork better, a new three-page sequence with fantastic artwork by Haun and Elizabeth Jacobson (the inks really make a difference) and a letter column that is reminiscent of (and you'll hear this influence noted not only again in this review, but in the letter column itself) Bendis. Basically, if you picked up the first issue, you don't really need to again, and if you read my review the first time, well, I'm reproducing it below. But if this is the first time you've heard of Paradigm... read on, and trust me... don't miss out this time.
I can't tell you how many books I've taken a chance on and regretted, finding that what seemed a promising idea has been let down by poor execution. Paradigm is the kind of book that keeps me trying new books regardless, the diamond in the rough, a remarkably professional and engaging book that features a distinctive storytelling and art style as well as a very unusual premise. While much of the book is straightforward, being the examination of the life of a regular guy and his relationships, there are elements of magic and violence mixed in, and Paradigm
manages to be remarkably easy to read while still maintaining a lot of layers
and mystery.
I was hooked on the book by
page one, which features a conversation between Chris and his girlfriend Emma as
they leave a movie. It's remarkably real, reminding me of Bendis's dialogue, but
it also establishes very quickly who and what these characters are. And although
the reality and strong development on these characters had me already, when the
next few pages followed with a mugging and a surprisingly violent reaction, I
knew that there was a lot more to this book than just solid dialogue and
relationship stuff.
It's easy, when you're doing a
comic about the strangeness around us, to get too caught up in the strangeness
and to make the story hard to follow or relate to. However, while Cashel
definitely establishes Chris's life as not-normal, featuring as it does
disappearing pubs and suddenly appearing poets and women, he also manages to
keep the normal part of his life in perspective at the same time. Chris has
conversations with his friend, and with his girlfriend, that are completely
down-to-earth, and that only helps to make the weirdness a little more
unsettling.
Of course, part of what gives
the book its atmosphere is the artwork by Jeremy Haun, and here I must once
again draw comparisons to Brian Bendis. Haun's work is gritty, dark and
atmospheric, and though I had trouble following a couple of the action
sequences, in general the storytelling is solid as well. For the story to work,
the artist has to be able to convey a sort of haunted world, where small details
like a look from a pet or the changing of a clock's time from 1:59 to 2:00 seems
a little spooky, and Haun has great timing for this sort of thing.
With a random murder and the involvement of a cop in the story, not to mention Emma's homicidal tendencies, there's a lot more going on here than simply a slice-of-life comic. And I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly what was going on yet. But I get the feeling we're not supposed to, and what I do know really intrigues me. Fantastic dialogue and characters and solid artwork gets me the rest of the way, and Paradigm has impressed me as a book to watch out
for.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
