by Randy Lander

KISSING CHAOS #1 Recommended (8/10) Oni Press Writer/Artist: Arthur Dela Cruz Editor: Jamie S. Rich Price: $1.95 US There are a lot of interesting elements in Kissing Chaos, and from the description of the book in Previews, it sounded like it would be right up my alley. However, Dela Cruz is a new creator, and that shows in what is an intriguing but sometimes rough and disjointed piece of work, enjoyable but for the fact that it took some heavy rereading to get a sense of what is going on. The artwork is gorgeous, an unusual almost-painted style, and I like the dreamlike and strange narration, but the limited space of the first issue and an unnecessarily complicated narrative flow makes for a sometimes confusing read. Dela Cruz's artwork is really nice, with facial detail that reminds me of some of Sam Kieth's recent work on Zero Girl and a sort of pencil-shaded style that looks like painting. The look of this book is unlike any other, different even from similar digital painted books like those from Chuck Austen. And while Dela Cruz's choice of camera angles is sometimes a little confusing, it also helps to give the book a "tilted camera" look reminiscent of arthouse films. Kissing Chaos is a crime book in one sense, and I'm a big fan of crime comics. But it's also about people and relationships, notably a pair of very different girls and a guy who I can't quite figure out yet. With only 16 pages to use, Dela Cruz doesn't get around to really introducing us to any of these characters, giving us vague notions that Damien might be a bit of a hapless and violent guy, Raevyn is something of a shady and cynical character herself and Angela is a normal (if not-too-bright) girl caught up in it all. I feel like I've got a little bit of a grasp on these characters, but the relationship between Damien and Angela seems to have a history we've missed out on, as we're wondering what Angela is going on about with her talk of almost dying or how Damien got the blood on his shirt. I'm curious, but at the same time I feel like I needed something more solid in the first issue to connect with these characters. I thought it a bit of a shame that so much time was spent on Raevyn's romantic dalliance at the beginning, because that space would definitely have been better used establishing Damien and Angela a little more. However, I have a suspicion that the opening sequence will become more important as the story moves on, and so I can see why Dela Cruz made the choices that he did. The juxtaposition of Angela's overly romantic view of Damien and his actions with what the reader can guess is truly going on makes for some interesting reading, and great insight into Angela's character. And the introduction of Raevyn at the end, with an instant chemistry developing between her and Damien, promises some fun character dynamics in upcoming issues. However, I really only connected with the story right as the issue was coming to an end. I'll definitely be interested to see issue two, as I hope that Dela Cruz will be able to spend a little more time developing the characters now that he's established the basics. Email Randy Lander comments about this review.