Suburban Folklore #1-2

Posted: Tuesday, December 2, 2003
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Suburban Folklore #1-2

Creator: Steven Walters
Publisher: Ourobor.com (Self Published)
Address: PO Box 760, Westbury, NY 11590, USA.
Price: $2(US)

A bunch of guys and gals spend their days hanging out in the neighbourhood. Nate's long time gal pal Samantha has a new boyfriend, but Nate starts to realise he still has feelings for her. His other friend Yessina likes using his bed as a crash pad but he doesn't even think of making a move on her. Nate, Ashley and Yessina hang out at the comic shop 'cause it's something to do. Yessina's boyfriend gave her a black eye and Nate wants do something about it.

Urban soup opera kind of explains what this book is about but might give the wrong impression. Remember Clerk's, Kevin Smiths first film? This book has a similar mode of operation: realistic characters swapping insult, hanging out with each other and getting into trouble. Sometimes they are rude and obnoxious, sometimes sensitive and uncertain. They are never boring or clichéd.

Steve's artwork is mainly thin line work. The main focus is the characters and their facial expressions, and he does well to successfully give emotion to the characters. The backgrounds are minimal but realistic, and this style works well in establishing an 'anywhere' suburban feel for the story. I found the style of word balloons connected with thin lines hard to follow in the first issue, but in the second Steven uses a more standard approach is much easier to read.

There's a winning combination here of artwork and subject matter, striving for a serious tone and achieving it. So far the events are engaging and the characters believable. I'm interested to see how things develop in later issue.

In a Word: Relationships



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