BLISS #1
Writer: Sean Lewis
Artist: Caitlin Yarksy
Publisher: Image comics
I’m gonna start this review with pure honesty: I wasn’t planning on reviewing this comic. I wasn’t even planning on reading it. I did not care for the cover at all. But I was bored and went through the list of comics I had as virtual copies and for an unknown reason I went on Image's website to read the premise.
I do that sometimes. Just browsing, reading about random comics.
The description really stuck with me:
There's a drug called Bliss wiping away memories in Feral City. A good-hearted young man, overwhelmed by a deathly sick child and distraught wife, makes a deal to become the personal hitman to three gods, killing those in their way and sending memories down the river of Oblivion in exchange for his family’s well-being. Breaking Bad meets Neil Gaiman's Sandman in an urban fantasy unlike any you've ever seen.
Let me put emphasis on the last sentence
“Breaking Bad meets Neil Gaiman's Sandman in an urban fantasy unlike any you've ever seen.”
…
Like… What?
Ok I’ll look into it.
I grabbed my kindle tablet and went through it so quickly. I was still trying to turn the pages when the issue was over! A very pleasant surprise indeed.
First there’s the art, absolutely fantastic. I personally think the cover of this first number do not render justice to the beauty and the details behind the work of the artist. The color work is also pretty amazing. A great use of red and what I will call “yellow-gold”.
It’s hard to really describe the impression it left me with, but I will describe it as the following:
It’s like there’s a permanent blurry “yellow-gold” haze surrounding every pages of the comics. Add in the color palette composed of bright dark blood-red with a pinch of cold deep-purple and you have this weird combination making you feel like you are permanently stuck in this not yet nightmare but not quite dream either.
And that’s why I think the beauty of this art is absolutely genius for this specific story. Not gonna lie, the visual is a strong reason of why I appreciated this first number so much.
But, let’s not remove anything from the writing: the story is…. incredibly weird but deeply interesting! It has a slow start where you are unsure of fully understanding what’s happening, but once the primary characters are established, the story just takes a full swing into weirdness.
I can really see where Breaking Bad would meet Sandman. We follow the story of a desperate father trying to provide for his family. While trying to bring some joy to his hospitalized son, he has no choice but to turn to the dark side… And things become really violent quickly. All that taking place in a VERY Sandman-esque universe, which I thought was incredible.
I am very curious to see more of this story. #2 is coming out August 26th.