Check The Blinker #2

Posted: Tuesday, May 22, 2001
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Check The Blinker #2 Creator(s): Lars Cawley
Publishers: Little Projector Ltd. (Self Published)
From: New Zealand
Price: ??

Shipwrecked and left adrift on the high seas Gusto, the main character of Lars' work, has little to do but worry about the practicalities of surviving on his emergency rations supplemented by the occasional fish. During the long days his mind wanders to childhood memories. Through this narrative device Lars is able to introduce a social background to his story.

Two superpowers have been active in the island nations between which Gusto now floats. During the war between them they occupied the islands. Now they appear to have left, seen off by indigenous forces which have reclaimed their respective islands, thought military actions operations seem to be still occurring.

Lars focus is on creating a mood for the story, happily leaving Gusto in his life raft. Gusto doesn't seem to cope with situation very well, spending much of the comic with a grim expression on his face. For an owner of a sailing boat he seems ill at ease with the sea. Like the bottle shown on its cover, the reader has to float along without any sense of making progress plot wise until sudden developments at the end of the book promise more involving events to follow.

The comic is an attractive A4 format B/W book. While Lars' stylized approach to his characters facial structures occasionally looks out of proportion, he places them in a detailed world which offers many obstacles. The pacing is a bit slow considering this is issue two, hopefully the pace will increase in later instalments

In a Word: Unfocused.



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