I can't help but cringe when I hear of a new comic publisher. Too many high promises and outright failures come to mind. Valiant, Defiant, Crossgen, First, and does anybody remember the Dark Horse universe? DC fell flat with its Impact comics line. Heck, even Marvel couldn't get its late 1980s "New Universe" off the ground at the height of its game. That's why I am always nervous about spending my comic allowance on a new publisher. Yes, I'm married, so I get a comic allowance. Especially with comics costing what they do today, I am only allowed so many. I have to beg for a couple extra bucks when DC comes up with some new must have like Identity Crisis. As you know, some like this end up being worth it, but only when it is about a CURRENT line. DC's new line like Hard Time will fail. I guarantee it. They sound great, but I don't foresee a long future. Why get into a comic that's going to fail? And now that there is a trade paperback for every six issue of every comic, why should I get the monthly? I read reviews from those I trust and get what they say is a good bet. Then comes this year's Free Comic Book Day 2004. Sure, my daughter got a couple of nice ones. The only one that looked decent to me was from this new publisher called Beckett Comics. The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty. Sure, it's free; I'll try it. And I amazingly liked it. Issue one was fast paced and interesting. Written by some guy named Gabriel Benson, the scenes were quick and told enough to keep you informed but just enough to hold suspense. This is actually one of my gripes about comics currently. I hate guessing. I read a current arc of JLA where two of the main characters were completely unknown to me, some characters named Faith and Major Disaster (whose names even eluded me for several issues).
After the first three issues, I can say that I love the drawing by Hawthorne and Benson is a good writer. They understand the comic formula of pictures and words telling a story together. Mostly, I need to say that I want more. I want to know the answers to several questions I have. This comic even works best as separate issues. If it were a trade paperback, I probably would not be that much into the mysteries developing. Putting a book down and thinking about it is a lot of fun. I feel like I'm twelve again, pondering the X-Men inbetween issues.
The most important thing here is to applaud them for a job well done. I am a high school English teacher and have a degree in English education. I can't tell you how many movies, books, and other stories bore me sometimes because, being educated in the craft, I usually can tell what's coming. Nothing much surprizes me. But this comic is keeping me guessing, which is the best compliment that I can pay it. I want to know what happens. I am a fan, even if it is from an independent.
Keep up the good work, Beckett. I wish your company success. (By the way, I also emailed Beckett Comics to say these things and they actually wrote back. I dug that. Makes me want to like these guys even more.)
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