Review: Pretty Violent…with lots of swears #1
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers:Â Derek Hunter and Jason Young
Artist:Â Derek Hunter
Colors:Â Spencer Holt
Reviewer:Â Tony Farina
Summary
Pretty Violent…with lots of swears welcomes you to Bay City. Home of Gamma Rae, Mechanix, Magma Beast, Maximum Prophet, the Hulktress, Mad Manimal, Merc and a whole host of other heroes and villains. Gamma Rae, the hero (?) of this tale arrives in Bay City to do some hard core heroing. Instead, she accidently kills a bunch of people, makes everyone mad, swears at everyone, kills more people and returns home.
There is a B story where Gamma Rae from the future tries to stop Merc from doing something bad, but Merc, thinking Gamma is joking, kills her time buddies and misses out on the big news.
There is a lot of violence and lots of swears.
Positives
Pretty Violent is just that. The art, done by creator Derek Hunter is so fun. Blood and guts in the style of an old time Saturday morning cartoon. The contrast is stark and it works so well. The hero, Gamma Rae, looks like what Punky Brewster (ask your parents kids) would look like if she were a super hero. Spencer Holt’s colors pop off the page and the whole thing is worth looking at over and over.
However, the look is not the only thing to mention here. The writing is so funny and the jokes land perfectly. There are swears, as promised in the title, that are use appropriately and do not distract from this clever work of super hero satire. It seems that Gamma Rae is on a journey. Is she a hero? Is she a villain? Is she an idiot? Only time will tell. The mash up of cartoon cuteness with Pretty Violent Rated-M comic book material is fun for the right audience. I am the right audience I suspect there are more people like me. The capricious nature of fandom is on full display in this book as well and that works on many levels in this saturated world of comic book heroes.
Negatives
This looks like a book little kids would want to pick up. It is not for them. That could be a problem.
It also has two stories, which could mean that there isn’t enough for one. Maybe this is a comic strip and not a book. It is not a huge problem, but it might be one down the line.
Verdict
This is a great first start to a comic that could be a classic. There is a risk that it could be the same joke over and over, but only time will tell. For now, Derek Hunter and Jason Young have something that should be a HUGE hit for Image comics.
