REVIEW: Altered Boys – The Book of Billy

What makes a really great comic book story?  Is it the writing? The art? A combination  of both maybe? Is it the entertainment value, or must it be a story that challenges your world view and gives you something to think upon, to ponder? The truth is that at least some of those elements need to be present and in Altered Boys – The Book of Billy, you may well find a number of the above, in this at times unsettling tale.

The book starts off with a confession of sorts, that descends quicker than you can say “bless you Father, for you have sinned”, we get to see an end and more than a hint of the driving force of the book.  Michael, it seems, is a man on a mission; a mission he believes in that suddenly carries extra reconnaissance with the death of one his best friends, Billy.  It turns out that Michael and Billy were two of a foursome that used to hang out, hit the movies and were alter boys.  Its a combination of the mission and circumstance that pushes Michael further than his mysterious superiors would like, possibly bringing forward the might of god’s right hand, moving in not so mysterious ways.

The book is written by Michael J. Uhlman, Brian Wasiak and Jon C. Sheide, all of whom have extensive writing experience, though surprisingly this is their first graphic novel.  The topic can be unsettling, child abuse is abhorrent to say the least; in this case is carries the double burden of not only being applied by someone the child trusts, but it is also sanctioned by the state.  The trio set their stall out early and then go about the business of giving the story layers of context and texture, to give life to he who has passed in order to bring the reader into the battle.  The emotion on show is pretty heavy and may not be everyone’s cup of tea.  The dialogue does a great job of  showing the characters at the various stages of their lives, with each having a differing viewpoint which goes someway to realistically showing how people may try to live with their experiences.

The art in the book is provided by Robert Raith, who gives the characters a scratchy look that some may not feel is eye catching.  To be honest, I think the art suits the book and the topic at hand extremely well as whilst I appreciate that the book is meant to be entertaining, there is no need to sensationalise the horrors the characters have seen.  With this type of horror, less is definitely enough.  The panel structure moves the story along well, with only a couple of occasions requiring a double take, mainly when the locations change.  The scratchy look also gives Michael an almost always look of sneering anger, which I understand, but surely the anger gets a day off, right? The colors work well with the different locations; the sunny dog days of youth, tempered  by a present with the darkness of the past, a past of shared exploits, fears and exploitation.

For those that consider this particular subject taboo for a comic book, may I remind you that this topic has been seen in any number of movies and TV shows,  Ray Donovan being one of the more recent.  I am pleased to see how all involved have applied a level of maturity  to their work.  I am interested to see how this series plays out in the next chapters.

Altered Boys – The Book of Billy is available on Comixology now.  For those that prefer their comics in hard copy format, checkout www.alteredboysgraphicnovel.com to order your copy directly.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Michael J. Uhlman, Brian Wasiak and Jon C. Sheide
Art by; Robert Raith
Published by; Shinebox Press

 

 

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

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