Steve Saunders Reviews: Indego Blue #1

Steve Saunders Reviews…

You may know Steve as a former writer of the All the Rage column at Comics Bulletin, or from his fledgling comic writing work on titles such as Secret Cross & Sorgon (featured in Orang Utan Comics‘ FTL #2 & #3), the Orsuville Webcomic, and many other upcoming projects. Steve recently became a featured reviewer at DriveThruComics, and because I’m a big fan of the DriveThruComics site Steve has asked whether he could cross-post his featured reviews. They agreed, and so here we are…

Today, Steve will be reviewing Indego Blue #1, written by Robert James Russell & Jesse Young, with artwork by Howard Russell.

The solicitation for the book reads:

In an effort to create the perfect soldier in a bleak future landscape, a totalitarian government experiments with gene-splicing and creates the ultimate weapon: Indego Blue. After years of faithful service and unable to remember anything of his past, Indego shuns the murderous ways of those who created him. His new mission: to help other transplants like himself, victims of botched splicing which the government has chosen to round up and destroy.

Looking at the cover of this issue immediately took me back to when I used to play the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness RPG. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that Indego Blue takes me right back to the best TMNT comics mood-wise of today and yore within the first few pages! All great things, folks. I guess I’m a sucker for mutant animal comics.

The opening exposition is told in a fast, semi-detailed first person style, and it explains that, basically, genetic “splicing” between human and animals has led to these “genetic mutts” being kicked to the curb socially and hunted down “like vermin”.

Our story stars and is narrated by the titular character, Indego Blue. He’s a dog-man with no memory of his past, or who he really is, and completely dedicated to saving those “transplants” like himself. This comic has all the tropes we’ve come to love: action, adventure, mystery, a tech-geek sidekick (named Baxter), heroics and a determined villain who works for an evil corporation. While not wholly original by any stretch, Indego Blue proves to be quite the kick in the pants, and is a great comic to pick up for those who are growing tired with standard mainstream super-tights titles.

And, as mentioned before, this comic nicely captures the spirit of TMNT, which itself was a parody of comics like Daredevil and the like. The art is non-complex black & white; with strong line work, great inking, good layout and terrific pacing. The dialog flows smoothly with only a couple hiccups here and there. The writing, while uncomplicated, is strong and sets up in superb fashion the universe in which this story takes place. The lettering is excellent, my only (tiny) gripe with it being some bubbles and text-boxes having a little too much space around the letters – but hey, this will NOT detract from the story one bit. Overall, this book is a well-built, above-average offering showcasing sequential storytelling skill and talent.

In other words: Totally worth reading. Oh, and this book is fun. I like fun. If you like fun, too, you should give Indego Blue a gander. Come on, it’s a steal at $1 for 28 pages!

Rating:

Review by Steven G. Saunders
http://www.baconlord.com

Indego Blue #1 is available to buy from DriveThruComics, as a downloadable watermarked PDF for only $1.00 by clicking here, where you will also find a 6-page preview of the book!