R-Squared #1

Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2004
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of R-Squared #1 Creator(s): Alverne Ball
Publishers: Quality Quill (Self Published)
From: USA
Price: ?

Cross knows how to fix things permanently, with explosions that deal to crime lords and politicians. We don’t yet know why, but a man doesn't walk in the footsteps of death without a very good reason. Perhaps a mistake or a life lost? Some folks aren't happy with his activities so the men in black suits are sent to shut him down.

Sure I've read this story before, quite a number of times actually. There's that loony at Marvel for a start -same black costume and fatalistic outlook on life. So fare there isn't much new to the telling. Some nice action sequences, big guns ... No, I take that back, an amusing interaction between Cross and a transsexual on the train suggests the guy might just have a sense of humour and an open mind.

Looking at the artwork it reminded me of some of the stuff in Mad Magazine back in the seventies. The faces have lots of character to them and display a wide range of emotions. Cliff does have an unfortunate habit of drawing women (and transsexuals) as implausibly mis-proportioned fantasies with huge breasts, long legs and not much clothing. It's kind of funny, but a bit sad.

So there are a few flaws here, and nothing that new. Even so, the artwork still manages to entertain in its own way and explosions are always fun.

In a Word: Loud.



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