Advance Review: Stringers #1

Story: Marc Guggenheim
Art:Justin Greenwood
Colors: Ryan Hill
Publisher: Oni Press
Release Date: August 26,2015

“Stringers”“ is a comic that takes readers into the misunderstood and often dangerous world of the freelance journalist. The book excels at capitalizing on the the public’s interest in the fast-paced world of breaking news and expands beyond the creepily opportunistic vibe of a film like “Nightcrawler”“ by allowing readers a chance to see that everything that goes bump in the night need not be bloodthirsty or one dimensional.

The book is a great example of what can be done with comics outside of the traditional tights and powers tropes; not that there’s anything wrong with a good old fashioned superhero comic, it’s just nice to see something a little different every now and again.

Here we have two guys, Paul and Nick, who“ve seen some moderate success working as freelance video journalists in southern California. As is usually the case with the self-employed, they seem to work a lot harder than their bank accounts would indicate ”“ despite their financial concerns, however, they still tend to churn out top notch footage and have a fairly strong relationship with one of the local news stations.

This inaugural issues introduces us to the stringers, mid-argument, fleshes them out a little throughout the next 25+ pages or so by giving us passenger’s view of an atypical night on the job, and then throws in a nice bit of mystery to close things out.

The plot is rhythmic, with welcome breaks in the action coming at regular intervals. The action itself is nothing too over-the-top (yet) and everything feels possible if not all that plausible. The choice to detail scene elements with sound effects-style lettering is also pretty cool; sort of gives the book a sense of release from all of the dramatic tension.

If you’re looking for something different in the current midst of saga and event saturation, you’ll definitely enjoy the change of pace that “Stringers”“ has to offer.

By: A. C.

Author Profile

Adam Cadmon

Adam Cadmon is the pen name for a man who has been writing for a few years. Heâ€™s done his share of straight-laced writing, college press, blogging, some other not very glamorous technical writing to keep the bills paid. Itadakimasu.