Advance Review: Negative Space #1

Negative Space #1
Ryan K Lindsay (W), Owen Gieni (A)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: July, 08 2015

Ever have one of those days where every break goes against you? You know the day; your alarm doesn’t go off, car won’t start, you get to work to discover your hard drive has crashed and your boss wants to have “a little chat”.

Guy Harris is having one of those days. It seems that he has been having that type of day for quite some time. Â He is about to give it all up, but would you believe it, the rules of one of those days means he gets writers block whilst penning his suicide note. He goes to clear his head on what he expects is his last day falling victim to the powers that be. Â Those powers come across like Â a perverse Monsters Inc. Â Kindred Tower houses this company who uses the negativity of the world to satisfy the hunger of beast called an Evorah. Here we are introduced to Rick who is trying to push all Guy’s buttons to get him to exit the mortal coil, thus feeding the beast.

Ryan K. Lindsay has a varied comics career, ranging from My Little Pony to Daredevil. This book feels like an opus. Â I cannot say enough great things about it. Â There is not a bum note anywhere in it pages. Â Everything feels real, which it should considering the situation Guy is in at the start of the book. Â This feeling only gets stronger with the potential love element, the 500 Days of Summer and Guy realization that he has a reason to live.

The art by Owen Gieni is not my cup of tea. Â That said, it fits the book perfectly, with a style that is reminiscent of Raymond Briggs. This includes the colours which adds to the stand out elements of the book. Gieni manages to convey emotions in subtle and not so subtle ways, helping us connect to Guy, to feel with him the loss of hope and the fear of love.

This book is a fantastic read. Yes there are a number of very clear influences in play: The Matrix, Monsters Inc and Cabin in the Woods all have a part within the issue. That said, Guy is the hero of the book. Â He is an everyman, a person we could all be at any point in our lives. This means his failures and failings are our failures and failings. It also means that his success, his realizations are also ours and allow Guy and ourselves, by connection, to overcome and endure.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network