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WHAT'S
IT ABOUT?
A few months after Becoming,
Part 2, Spike and Dru are living in Italy. Things have changed.
Dru still pines for Angel and Spike won't have any of it. The two of
them embark on an adventure that could change their relationship for ever.
This comic is the
first to feature 21-year-old Ryan Sook, who has previously worked on some Hellboy
stories for Dark Horse, but this is his first major comic book work.
This is the book which will fling him into star status. It's also
written by Spike himself, James Marsters, who is a lovely man and who pulls
off a great British accent - and does a fine job at writing, believe
me. This is also the first, and up until Angel
#1
the only, appearance of Spike and Dru in the comics, which is a shame as
they're both bloody great characters.
WRITING
Okay so it's undecided who
wrote the most, Marsters or Golden, but as we hear it, they've both done
their equal share.
So how do they do
together? Absolutely fantastic! The storyline is great. It
shows how messed up inside Spike is and how jealous he is. It shows
that he truly loves Dru and doesn't want to lose her, no matter how stubborn
he is. The team obviously had to put some true 'British' words in the
book, hence "wanker" being scattered around the place, along with
"pet" and "bloody". Some find it embarrassing, but
I kinda like it. It sets the tone of the voices - anger, happiness,
whatever.
There are some real
issues between Spike and Dru, even though they hate to say they still love
each other:
Dru: You're a cruel
thing don't touch me.
Spike: Gladly.
They pretend that
they don't care for about one another but they do. They care for each
other very much. Angel was what dragged them apart and Spike hates him
for it, but now he has to face up to the fact that Angel's gone and he and
Dru can start over again.
Dru doesn't seem as
mad in this. She should be a bit more ditsy in my opinion. I
liked the last page when Dru says, "Spike? I hear Calliope music
in my head. Is it carnival time already?"
Okay, so Spike burns
Dru because Dru said Angel's name. Spike leaves Dru, Dru comes back to
Spike to punish him with great big dirty arse Zombie Bloke. Now this
guy gives Spike and Dru a run for their money. A good villain.
Maybe Andi Watson should take note - this is what we wanna see, a baddie
who's got some serious attitude. Koines, the zombie guy, is better
than The Hollower and Selke put together. I like him as he's original,
he can control people and he's a sorcerer.
And for some reason I like him for that. With witchcraft you can do so
many different things - all shown in this book. Marsters and Golden
make a great team: it's a shame they may never work together again.
ART
My first encounter with Ryan
Sook. What are my initial impressions of him as an artist? DAMN
THE BOY KNOWS HOW TO DRAW! Dark Horse, if you are reading this keep
hold of him for a lot longer. Make him sign some kind of contract that
says he's only allowed to work for you guys. People have said that the
work is a heap of shit, crudely drawn and looks like a 3-year-old grabbed a
pen and attacked the page. What the hell do they know? They do
not know good art. It's a shame that people think that, but they
do. Sook is great, his style is very unique. It's an acquired
taste but he's proven himself here, in the Annual
and hopefully he'll wow up again in Queen of Hearts
(the follow-up to Paint The Town Red). He uses a
mixture of thin lines and deep shadows to make a dramatic effect. It
works. Take page 17 with Dru at the bottom. It's a great picture
- lots of shadow around the nose, mouth, eyes and the hair leads into the
shadow as well. As Jim Carrey said in Dumb and
Dumber, "I like it a lot."
Sook's artwork is
very Mike Mignola (Hellboy).
If you were shown two picture that the pair had done of the same person in
the same position it would probably be very hard to tell who drew
which. But is this a bad thing? No, of course not. Every
great artist has copied another great artist. This is how artists
develop a style of their own. You think that Jack Kirby didn't study
other artists? Of course he did. I'm going to love seeing how
Sook's work develops over the years. Suffice to say whatever he does,
I'll be following close behind him.
The fight scene at
the end is very, very, very well done (how many very's can I have?).
It's just great. Marsters' and Golden's fabulous writing mixed with
Sook's dramatic art makes a bloody great finale. Now why can't the
ongoing series be as good as this?
OTHER
NITPICKS
None really. The
colouring's great - I love the fire effects that Major has done. It's
a very dark book, both in lighting and in content. Major doesn't try
and add brightly-lit colours everywhere, which is a plus. It's also
great to see Spike out of the red shirt and brown leather jacket and into a
white shirt and brown leather jacket.
Also, on pages 24-25
there are six stereotypical 'British' words - "love" (as in
"fancy a pint, love?"), "bloody" (twice), "git",
"wanker!" and "mitts" - overkill maybe?
RATING
Writing - Excellent as usual
from Golden and Marsters should really write more comics. The two make
a great writing pair and it's a shame that they couldn't work together again
on the sequel. James, if you're reading this somehow (I seriously
doubt it, but...) go and write more comics stuff! Now!
Art - An excellent
start by Sook. He's a real find. A great artist. The
detail's there, the shadow's there, the direction's there. Everything
you ever wanted from a great artist and more to be honest. A unique
style that some day everyone will understand.
NEXT
Queen of Hearts -
Spike and Dru on their way back to Sunnydale. Same team, except
Marsters who's too busy going full-time on the show. Shame really.
Back
to the top
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Note: This review was written on
3 October 1999, around 5-6 months after the release of the comic.
PAINT THE TOWN RED
Writers: JAMES MARSTERS and
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN
Artist:
RYAN SOOK
Letterer: PAT BROSSEAU
Colours: GUY MAJORS
Reviewer: MARC
WRITING RATING: 5/5
ART RATING: 5/5
OVERALL RATING: 10/10
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