Whisp #1 - Spider Legs

Posted: Tuesday, November 11, 2003
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Whisp #1 - Spider Legs Writer(s): Damian Duffy
Artist(s): Dann Tincher
Publishers: Rehab25.net (Self Published)
From: USA
Price: $2(US)

Curt's a junkie. He's hooked on Whisp: a drug that induces premonitions in its users. If they stop taking, their promotions become vague, hard to decipher. When we meet Curt he's having a hard day. He's ended up back in rehab. Last time he was there he made some enemies who are none too pleased to see him...

This a grim tale of violence and desperation told with commitment and flair. The artwork and scripting play off each other as panels twit and flow to take the reader into Curt's world. We share his shifting perspective of "reality"; feel the pain as the blows find their mark. The exact setting of the story is hard to pin down. It might be the future, but there isn’t much in the way of progress on display. Curt slips in and out of consciousness. He seems unable to deal with his present, so slips back into flashes from his past. He's a cleaver guy, so how did he end up here? A few too much drugs?

Dann's art has a fluid look. The shadows threaten to take over the panels as black and grey washes creep from the corners, just as events attack Curt’s sanity. It's all very spooky. The layouts are some of the more inventive that you'll find with cinematic use made of repetitive panels and interweaving sequences. It all comes together to give the book a majestic poise that overcame my usual lack of interest in life of a junkie tales.

In a Word: High.



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