Originally posted on Irish Comic News (18/Jun/2018)
Script by Patrick Hammond.
Line art by Nenad Cviticanin.
Colour art by Joseph Griffin.The great thing about Kickstarter these days is that it is providing a steady stream of comics these days. The latest being Out Of Sight #1.
The story opens on a moon-lit roof of a museum. A shadowy figure stands alone looking through the skylight into the museum. The figure reveals himself to be Tom Taylor, and he has a spot of late night thievery planned. Rather than go with a smash’n’grab plan, Taylor takes the path of least resistance and pays off a security guard for access to the museum. But Taylor soon discovers that even the simplest plans are no guarantee of success.
With the robbery ending in failure, Taylor must answer to those that bankrolled the robbery. And they make it clear that they aim to make the profit that Taylor promised them.
The story has a nice tempo to it and it’s an enjoyable twist to a what is basically a heist story. The dialogue is fun, with Taylor having plenty to say. Even when it might have been better if he kept his mouth shut.
The art is well drawn with a good flow to the panels throughout the comic. There are a number of locations in the comic, but at no stage do the backgrounds drown out what is happening in the panels. One small criticism is the transition between the first two panels on page twelve and how they relate to each other. The first panel sees Taylor (shown from the side) lying down looking up at one of his captors, with the second panel a side profile of the captor looking towards the first panel. Due to the art in each panel, the transition gives the initial impression the captor is kneeling down because the captors eyeline is level with Taylor. It’s not detrimental to the story in any way but a different choice of angles could make for a better transition. That said the line art is clean with no panel ever seeming busy even when there are a number of characters and props in a panel.
The colour art is equally impressive. Much of the story happens at night, and even when a scene happens under moonlight, the colours manage to give the panels a clear readability. I did like how Taylor looks like mist taking on human form when he is invisible. The background behind him has the colour modified ever so slightly to give the sense that we are looking straight through him.
Out of Sight #1 is an enjoyable heist story with a sci-fit twist. A big part of the appeal for me is the character of Taylor. He provides the comedic element to the story that rounds out the comic nicely. Issue one is a good start with some enjoyable characters and a cliffhanger that should have most readers looking out for the next instalment.