REVIEW: The Vagabond #1 & #2

Written byÂ Nathanael Hopkins-Smith
Art byÂ Randy Bishop,Â Luisa Russo

The Vagabond s pretty much what he seems. A homeless, one eyed guy. The sort that you may see any day in your nearest town or city. What makes him a tad different, is the situations he finds himself in. In issue one we get an overview of his mind set, his thoughts on some of the things we take for granted. We also see the start of his fascination with eyes.

Both issues are written by co-creator Nathanael Hopkins-Smith, who sees the titular character as the hero that society doesn“t understand. The art is by Sam Finlay and whilst it isn“t my cup of tea, it“s extremely effective. If the motif of the first issue is greed and how it can negatively impact you, the fact that the hero also succumbs to said greed is kind of the point that the author is trying to make with his potential view of consumerism.

Issue two, sees an artist change with Luisa Russo demonstrating a totally different style than Finlay. I am not sure why there was a chance, but whilst the change does suit this issues story better, I do find myself think it“s not as striking as the previous issue. This issue also sees a departure from the sociology lesson and onto straight up hero stuff, saving some kids from the clutches of the church, following an altercation of sorts. The jump between tracks is quite jarring, as the kid looking for help just seems to pop up, with seemingly no prior warning. This then could be seen a peculiar writing style, the sort of “oh I have a great idea, let“s do this”“ without any sort of fore thought, kind of like idea diarrhoea. This doesn“t stop there with the final two pages again having a non sequitur to conclude.

As a whole, both books are ok. The style between the two is radically different, as is the story. Is the book aiming to be a social piece, tackling personal interaction within a consumer led world or is it just a book of “this will make a great story”“ with no prior thought of the repercussions. If you are looking for something different, by all means give this a go, but I think that Hopkins-Smith needs to work out what vibe he is aiming for. Only then will he reach his target audience.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

You can purchase the issues here

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