"Half Human, Half Ogre, All Rage!"
At Gem City Comic Con this year I met two aspiring creators, writer Dustin Carson and artist Ren Mckinzie. These two had teamed up with one of my friends, Victor Dandridge, on a few of his books; and so I felt it was only proper that I learn more about these two impressionable fellas. Like most professions, sometimes its about "who" you know and not "what" you know; the comic book industry is no exception. Dustin and Ren have been working on "Half Breed" for over two years; and with the help of colorist Jeff Balke, letterer Brant Fowler, and editor Vincent Watkins, issue 1 had finally made its way onto shelves with a beautiful eye catching cover.
(Jacob Newell, Dustin Carson, Victor Dandridge, Ren McKinzie)
At their panel, "The Collaboration of the Comic Book Page," Victor, Ren, Dustin, and fellow artist Jacob Newell, each described their own perspective of working with one another. Because the panel was so informal it was really great to see a bunch of guys bashing on each other and laughing at their own failures and success'. I could tell right away that these guys were great friends and could trust one another to do their part in creating a successful comic. But even then there are times when their communication would get jumbled up, much like a game of "telephone." As Dustin pointed out, the last page of "Half Breed" turned out to be a very skewed image of what he had original envisioned. The artists of the group made their argument that all they needed was a very cut and dry idea of the image, but what they got from Dustin was a very intricate novel excerpt, which as a writer myself I can totally appreciate; we try to paint pictures with words, to put emotion where it is devoid, but in the artist defense, sometimes less is more. By giving less it leaves the artist to paint "their" picture and fully submerge themselves into their art.
The first thing I noticed about Ren was his hair, he had a mohawk very similar to that of the Half Breed so I knew immediately that he liked to put a little piece of himself into his work. Ren is a very talented artist; I had a chance later in the day to stop at his table and look through his portfolio, so if you get the chance check out some of his work. I recall a series of illustrations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which had a nice realism to them; needless to say I immediately fell in love with them. Most Indy creators need something to pay for their appearances at shows; lets face it, just because you make a comic not everyone will buy it. As Ren had stated at his panel, most people look through his portfolio and like what they see, but its usually the big name characters that draw their attention. It isn't what artist necessarily want to do, but it pays the bills. I did pick up some chi bi-esque character cards which was Ren's bread and butter for the con.
Disclaimer: As always I read comics in the way that I understand them, that being said, what I see may or may not be exactly what the creators intended. With criticism brings reflection.
"Half Breed"
So lets talk about "Half Breed." First off, the cover is what drew me to this book. The art is fantastic, the colors are smooth, but not blinding, and there is an awful lot of blood. Just a warning, this book is for adults only, there is nudity, beheading, skull crushing, and even eye popping on the very first page. That being said, I found the book to be an easy read. The story was not too complex, but it did leave me wanting to know more. The story of "Half Breed" begins with the Halfbreed's death (Yes, he has no mentioned name). Within the first page, much like Dustin mentioned in his panel, the author tells us how the book is going to end; but its not so blatant that you don't want to continue reading it. Upon his death the Halfbreed is sent to what I can only describe as Purgatory, much like Dante's Inferno, where he meets a giant, anatomically correct, version of Helen of Troy. The remainder of the story is of how the Halfbreed was born and sets a nice back story for the second issue; hopefully it will be available soon. I did find one or two spelling errors amidst the book, but nothing unforgiving; and at times I felt the story would have greatly benefited from being in color. There were a few times when the transition from locations left me re-reading the passages trying to make heads or tails out of where we were. The art is beautifully done and the details are spot on; but again, due to lack of colors it was confusing as to what I was looking at because it was such a zoomed in shot. Most of the panels are dark and the characters shaded. I assume most ogres are green and that's how I envisioned most of them being. Halfbreed is actually yellow on the cover, this is explained to be that he is half ogre and half human, but it is never mentioned who his father is. The large illustrations really accent the vastness of the scene in some areas of the book; however one particularly sticks out to me of a dragon which was a zoomed in shot that didn't let me fully appreciate the art.The text is very legible and the story is easy enough to follow; if you have seen Lord of the Rings, you should be just fine. One thing I wasn't a fan of was that near the end of the book many new characters were mentioned but never shown on the pages. I think its great to have characters to look forward to seeing, but without something to make a connection with the first time they are mentioned, readers will be stuck asking "Who?," when they do show up.
Halfbreed was a fun read and I look forward to reading a second issue whenever its available. The story for this book was mainly an origin story; unfortunately it felt like the Halfbreed was missing from his own origin story and his mother became the main character. Even as a newborn baby the Halfbreed was only seen in one small panel which begged to be larger. I expect the second issue to be much more action oriented and with any luck, be fully colored. If you would like to get a copy of "Half Breed" you can purchase one at...
also check out Ren Mckinzie's art at...
colorist Jeff Balke at...
and Letters-Logo-Layout person Brant Fowler at...
If you would like a comic of yours reviewed here you can contact the owner at C.Kouse@yahoo.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/angelicomics
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