Review: Vescell #5

I read this issue because I was on a plane otherwise I’m notsure I would have picked it up on a whim. The first issue left a sour taste inmy mouth and I never felt the need to go back to the series. That being said Iwas surprised by this book… a lot. Let’s start with the cover of the dapperlooking man and the blonde bombshell getting all close. Now look if youlook at just the top half she’s reaching down towards his… gun, which is cleversince she’s holding one. This entire cover is very well constructed and one ofthe best of the year already. The design choices are very smart and I wouldn’tbe surprised if this cover makes in on someone’s "list of stuff."

The story is about a series of murders in which blonde womanare being murdered around the city and the back of their necks are being cutopen. There are three divisions of what I can only guess is authority in thecity and Lieutenant Vega is part of the Paranormal Authority Agency. She’s noton this case since the corrupt local cop is ruling it as a normal homicide, butshe thinks there is more going on. She consults Agent Barrino (the dapper manon the cover) about the case and soon enough he’s locked into a classic, “everyoneis hiring me to find the same person gig.”

The catch that makes the story interesting (SPOILER) is thatthe woman contains the soul of Hitler. This book takes place in some alternatetimeline when Hitler hasn’t been removed from the picture for that long. There’ssome great dialog from the blonde containing his soul and really the sequenceof events from beginning to end are very interesting.

I was really taken in by this book and the world it created,it was much better than I remember the first issue being. I liked the meshingof the futuristic world with the new races of humans (Lieutenant Vega). Alsothe stance on sexual partners and relationships was well done and didn’t comeoff like the main character just being a man-whore. He's in a committedrelationship with a woman he loves, but he can also get busy and freaky withanother partner. It worked in context of the story and didn’t distract from iteither.  The art is fantastic. I rememberenjoying it a lot before, but the story wasn’t strong enough for me to justtolerate it with the art. John “Roc” Upchurch has the perfect style for theworld and great character designs. Everything is clean and sharp and gives the bookthe right look and feel.

This book surprised me a lot with a good story, the rightamount of sex and stunning art. The best part is that it’s actually a standaloneissue and though you don’t get a great recap of the world and charactersrelationships, it’s enough to get you to the next issue. Personally I’ll bechecking out the previous issues as well to see if I’ve been missing somethinggood and actually look forward to the next month’s issue was well.

Score: 4/5

Writer: Enrique Carrion

Artist: John Upchurch

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $2.99

Release Date: 1/4/2012