Mister X: Eviction #1 Review

While you might not know Dean Motter’s name, you are probably familiar with Tim Burton’s Batman, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, or Alex Proyas’ Dark City, all of which happily acknowledge his comics work as an influence on their visual style. With Mister X: Eviction #1, Motter revisits Radiant City and follows the exploits of Rosetta “Rosey” Stone and Mister X himself in a double feature. While the stories aren’t as penetrable as most, once you dig in, you’ll be glad you did.

Motter does his best to make this first issue accessible, and while some asterisks will point you to editor notes that define unfamiliar terms, you’d be hard pressed to understand the depth of the narrative or the intent of the characters. If you’ve been following Mister X since the ‘80s then enjoying this story will be a cakewalk, but everyone else will have to wade through reviews and essays on the Internet before grasping what’s going on. That, or read the entire backlog.

But didn’t I say you’d be glad you picked up this book? I did. And here’s why: it looks like art deco and The Jetsons. It uses negative space and dulled hues. It reads like noir and dystopian literature. It has cars from the ‘40s that fly and cigars that billow thick smoke. It sounds like thick city accents and big hand drawn onomonopia. It’s Blade Runner and it’s Felix the Cat clocks and it’s unlike anything else on the shelf right now -- and if you happen to spot something that is, it’s probably because Motter’s work influenced it.

Joshua writes for IGN. If the Powerpuff Girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything nice, then he is surely made of ketchup, pizza, and lightsaber replicas. Follow him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com