Material #1

by Forrest.H on May 27, 2015

Writer: Ales Kot
Artist: Will Tempest
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: May 27, 2015
Cover Price: $3.50
 
An amalgam of deep thoughts, mysterious interactions and haunting images that doesn’t add up to everything it could be, Material #1 tries to stand apart from today’s comics but stutters in the execution.

Ales Kot is a smart writer, one I respect a lot. His other book, Change, was a great avant-garde look at duality, hope, life and really, any existential issue one could put into words. With Material, he goes after the same, elusive and philosophical rabbit but, puts too much out there, leaving the message lost somewhere in the transmission.

It’s all interesting, smart stuff that is balanced quite well by Tempest’s art as it changes scenes, perspectives and focuses without becoming muddled. However, without the added reading Kot suggests at the bottom of near every page, it surmounts to very little besides artificial depth for the sake of mystery.

There’s a lot here but, there’s also very little. This book might materialize into a lot more than it is right now as these interesting but overwhelmingly dense stories make their way into something more solid but, it’s hard for me to recommend this book in its current state. 

Our Score:

5/10

A Look Inside