THE CLAW & FANG #1

THE CLAW & FANG #1

WRITER: Michael Kutcher

ART: Matias Basla

COVER: Dan Brereton

Warning: Contains Spoilers

This series is a brand new comic from filmmaker Michael Kutcher, I believe his first venture in the world of comics. While I’m not familiar with his film work, I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more about his comics work sooner rather than later.

You can tell from the start of this book that Kutcher is an experienced storyteller; the opening scenes to this series are well-paced, and we’re given a snapshot of who the players are and their situation immediately.

Unfortunately, a problem also rises immediately. Kutcher is clearly familiar with the world of online gaming and uses terms from that world where appropriate, but while this is integral to his main character’s background and story, the terms may not be familiar to a reader. Meaning can be inferred from context for most, but making your readers guess at certain things may well turn them off if they aren’t familiar with the writer or the terms.

That aside, Kutcher’s writing is solid and he sets up the rest of the story nicely. We’re introduced to Justin, the main character, as well as his online alter-ego, Eremon. We also witness events taking place on the other side of the world that impact Justin before the close of this first installment. Kutcher doesn’t wow me, but he doesn’t disappoint me either.

On the other hand, the art in this book disappointed me greatly. While it may just be the artist’s style, it felt to me like a lot of shortcuts were taken; many objects lacked detail (oftentimes they were just vague outlines), backgrounds were frequently non-existent or just splashes of two colors. Too late to change artistic gears now that the book’s mood and setting has been established, but I feel a different artist would have made Kutcher’s comics inauguration much stronger.

Overall, I’m not sorry I read this book and I don’t think I’ll be reading future installments but I urge others to decide for themselves. I think Michael Kutcher is just getting started with his comics career.

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