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Review: Crowded #4

Nemesis

Crowded is an entertaining commentary on the future of a society that devalues life, glorifies violence and worships at the altar of material gain.  This new society provides all of these thrills for public consumption on the latest technological gadget or multimedia display; all at a low, low price.  This book reminds me quite a bit of stories from years ago; the wonderful film “Series 7: The Contenders” (2001) and the “Running Man” novel (1982) by Stephen King, which was much different from the movie.  (If you have never enjoyed either of these two and enjoy Crowded I urge you to check them out).  Far from being derivative however, Crowded has taken some of the themes from those two works and reworked them into a new story that is relevant to the age we live in.

Crowded #4 opens on a scene that exemplifies the dark comedy prevalent throughout the book.  Three “hunters” searching for Charle Ellison burst in, armed for bear, to the home of combat veteran Charles Ellison.  The elderly man is waiting for them and proceeds to put a hurting on them with a crowbar.  Of course the TV cameras are there and Mr Ellison is paid for his time and effort.  Just that first scene has an amazing amount of dark humor but also thought-provoking social commentary.  This issue doesn’t stop there as a new hunter comes on to the scene with his wandering TV show reminiscent of certain iterations of the Kraven the Hunter show in Spider-Man.  Meanwhile, Charle and her Dfenda Vita Slatter deal with a farce of bureaucratic paperwork after experiencing first hand the dangers of privatizing public services.  Eventually, it is all too much for the hunted, Charle and she ditches Vita to live it up.  However, being the very public subject of a televised manhunt for big bucks can present its own unique problems.  Charle discovers this as Crowded #4 ends on a cliffhanger that sets up the beginning of Crowded #5.

The writing on Crowded is funny, creative and full of nuance and depth.  It is a joy to read and provides some cutting commentary underneath a story that is a joy to read.  That is a difficult combination to master as not everyone is looking for social commentary and so for those who aren’t there is a story here that can be enjoyed without delving into “deep thoughts”, to borrow from the classic Saturday Night Live sketch.  The artwork is bright and vibrant, putting a glitzy pop culture veneer on what by rights should be a gritty depressing world.  This sets the mood perfectly as it reflects the entertainment veneer put on this made for TV bounty hunt.

Writing – 5 of 5 Stars

Pencils – 4 of 5 Stars
Inking – 4 of 5 Stars
Color – 5 of 5 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writing – Christopher Sebala
Pencils – Ro Stein
Inking -  Ted Brandt
Colors – Triona Farrel
Letters – Cardinal Rae

Author Profile

Nemesis
Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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