Steel Kitty #1

Posted: Tuesday, December 23, 2003
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Steel Kitty #1 Writer(s): Ben M. Brown
Artist(s): Tracy Newman
Publishers: PSI-Comix (Self Published)
From: USA
Price: $1.50(US) 0r 1.75 &euros;

15 years ago Happy the clown had to get rough with his agent in order to get a bigger cut of the profits. Soon after there was an 'accident' with the human cannonball stunt and he disappeared. No it seems he has come back to settle some scores in Sioux City. Koebi Knight, local TV reporter is on the trail of a vigilante in the hope of kick starting a serious career in journalism.

This issue sets up the players for a longer story in which I guess these characters interact. The vigilante doesn't do much more than spar with a punch bag and change into her revealing costume, but I suspect it will be fun when they meet. Most of the information is contained in the dialogue, which stretched the book out but avoids long narration or text boxes. The exposition isn't too longwinded either.

Tracy draws a gleefully nasty Happy the Clown along with a range of characters who are all clearly identifiable. The inking of the line work tends to be a bit thin, and I'm not sure the 'scribble' style inking of black backgrounds does justice to the character work, but then solid black would be a bit much for every panel.

With a creepy villain and a sexy looking vigilantly this book makes a good impression, though it remains to be seen if the plot will develop into anything more intense than some occasional violence.

In a Word: Punchy.



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