Don and I have previously reviewed work from several of these creators, most notably Ferret Press head honcho Dara Naraghi, whose gal pal detective series A.K.A. received high markes from us. This time out, Ferret Press offers up something different, in the form of an anthology structured loosely around architecture. It's easy to connect most of the stories to the theme, although the stronger ones, perhaps not coincidentally, are the ones that stick closest to the theme rather than throwing in a building or a burnt-out house as sort of a token effort.
Either way, though, I was quite impressed by the variety of tones and genres seen within this loose theme. There are a couple slice-of-life reflections, a crime piece, a bawdy humor piece and a bit of science-fiction. There's even a full text story that is a superhero piece set in revolutionary era America. Probably my favorite story of the bunch is the moving and haunting opener by Andy Bennet, "Weight," which tells of how a house remains a sort of monument to tragedy, and how someone who was a victim of that tragedy gains some small amount of closure. Bennett (of Vampire: The Masquerade) brings an inky style reminiscent of Alex Maleev to bear on his story, and it really helps set the dark mood of the piece.
Though Naraghi is certainly well-represented in the pages of Panel, the book also features a number of other creators. Tom Williams (of Misa and Looking At the Front Door) impresses once again on a story of high school reminiscing and why that kind of thing is overrated, and Toby Goines and Steve Black deliver a strange, slightly jumbled story of a post-war city that never completely gets its point across but which has several interesting moments.
Of course, Naraghi offers up two stories as well, showing his range as he turns in what can be described as a crime piece with artist Adrian Barbu and a slapstick comedy with a touch of Phil Foglio-esque risque sex appeal with artist Tim Fischer. I enjoyed both, although I have to admit that I found "Rooftop Philosophy" to be the more satisfying of the two, even if the ending was something I had seen coming.
Panel is a strong anthology, offering up several different styles and voices. Some of the stories connected with me stronger than others, but all of them were pretty entertaining, and it's a pretty good showcase for indy artistic talent as well. 7/10
