Kickstarter Review: Coronary Episodes #1 & #2

Almost lost in the media that is 80 years of Superman over in Action Comics #1000, it’s too easy to lose track of the quality writers, penning their first story and looking to deliver their first books.Â Over in Kickstarter land, there is such a book waiting patiently to hit your doorstep, electronically or otherwise, in the shape of Ryan Burke’s Coronary.

The premise is very simple; what if after years of “body conditioning” from various sources from comic books, MTV videos and practically everything in-between plastic surgery became free of charge?Â Along with that would be the ancillary groups of pill pushers and life coaches.Â Step forward, d rug proponentÂ Justin Sharpe who after a chance encounter on the tube, recognises what is missing from his life; that is until the Feds and the bad guys decide that they want a piece of him.Â What follows is a complex cat and mouse game, played out in a style that holds true to it’s influences.

Ryan Burke, a Brit inspired by Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious Place on a Serious Earth and Alan Moore’s Watchmen, has looked to traverse the fine line between inspiration and homage.Â By doing so, Burke has managed to find a tone of book that meshes the real world with a “20 seconds in future” world.Â Burke is takingÂ his time in getting where he wants the story to go, which in turn gives the reader some time to really get to know the characters and form opinions which may well challenge the original set up.Â The dialogue flows well, with the adultÂ elements handled with aplomb.

The art for the books is provided by Joel Saavedra whose very clean lines matures into a look that is more than reminiscent of Tim Sale, with the shadowy elements of Mike Mignola.Â The art has a noir scheme, with shadows playing across skin and instantly recognisableÂ landmarks that adds an air of mystery to proceedings, that belabour the obviousÂ story points, although there are times that faces seem to get away from him.Â Damian Penalba provides the color scheme, throwing in a couple of colorist tricks to emphasis characters and key parts.

Having seen the first couple of episodes, I have no doubt that Ryan Burke’s impressive debut will lead to a draft of new readers for his ambitious twelve issue series.

For more information about this great book, check out the OTP Podcast with Ryan Burke available here.

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Written by; Ryan Burke
Art by; Joel Saarvedra
Colors by; Damian Penalba
Kickstarter Link; https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1455587713/coronary-episodes-1-3?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=coronary

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