Review: Goodnight Paradise #1 (of 6)

Wherever you call home, there is always an ideal, the sort of place that you dream off.Â Still life is not always about dreams; for some those dreams rest on the nightmares of others.Â In this new mini series from TKO Studios it seems that paradise, both literal and figuratively is definitely based on the various individuals involved own world views, especially as for some, paradise is merely existence or being able to go to the toilet.

Eddie is a homeless man, living near Venice beach.Â His world centres around the fellow vagabonds that make up beach life, be it hanging out in the camps or getting drunk in a friends RV.Â Eddie’s existence is more can-to-mouth rather then hand-to-mouth.Â Things change however when Eddie finds a young girl and her dog murdered in the trash.Â From there Eddie’s starts out on a path which may mean he says goodnight to his paradise

Joshua Dysart is a writer who has spent time with horror tinged books both with DC and in the Mignola-verse.Â Here the horror is more man-made, where it is the actions of an unknown murderer bringing the first level of tenseness.Â With Eddie and his cohorts though, it seems that a more personal level of horror insinuates it way into their lives.Â Dysart also has the added burden of trying to give a cast of “down on their lucks” some sort of honourable side, with Eddie as the catalyst for a number of his acquaintances, even if Eddie does drink all their beer.Â The dialogue has a meandering tone that can make it hard to follow; stick with it and story elements do become clearer.

Artist Alberto Ponticelli has worked with Dysart before on Unknown Soldier for DC Comics.Â Having not read that book, his art does feel fresh in places.Â Ponticelli’s strength comes in the way that he draws faces.Â This is by no means a superhero book meaning that all the “action” is set a more personal level.Â At times, the postures and poses of the character’s can lack the same detail of the faces and at times that great facial work can slip into an almost caricature parable.Â With all that said, Ponticelli’s art does help move you through the book and this slice of a day in the life of Eddie in an engaging way.Â Ponticelli is helped out by the fantastic colors of Giulia Brusco who gives the art a painted look that gives the book a heavy feel, appropriate considering the occurrences within the story.Â Steve Wands’ letters are well crafted, taking on a variety of styles to mimic a variety of speaking methods, which goes to show some of the, at times, mental turmoil the characters face.

Whilst this book is an interesting read, I can’t help but notice nuances and beats similar in places to The Dregs by Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler and Eric Zawadzki.Â Â Both feature a homeless hero, a death and even if the quests of Don Quixote seem more obvious in the latter, quests seemingly become important to Eddie.Â Goodnight Paradise is hard book to read in places, with it’s complexities hidden in the disregard that Eddie and his friends seen to engender.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Color – 4 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Joshua Dysart
Art by; Alberto Ponticelli
Colors by; Giulia Brusco
Letters by; Steve Wands
Published by; TKO Studios

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