Review of "Dancer" #1

Dave Morris's picture

 

Writer - Nathan Edmonson

Artist - Nic Klein

 

Dancer is one part love story and one part government conspiracy mixed with a little espionage action.  It has hit men, sniper battles and is set in exotic European locales.  Nathan Edmonson's writing is clear and flows well and Nic Klein's art is nicely done, especially the coloring.  Despite all of these interesting traits however, Dancer, as a whole, just isn't very interesting.  

 
The book has been created by a team of people who put a lot of honest endeavor into it, and I can see how it could appeal to some.  But for me, the characters were flat and cliched, and the same can be said of the plot. A very good attempt was made to get the reader to care about a dangerous man with a mysterious past who's life is suddenly threatened by unknown attackers, but in my case it did not succeed.  I found myself flipping each page with little interest in what was going to happen next.  I did not become at all attached to any of these characters and do not care what becomes of them.  The pacing was a little odd as well, especially the ending.  Many readers will no doubt be a little confused as to when the issue is actually over, since a full page cliff hanger is shown so close to the end that it feels like that's where it should stop, yet it clumsily continues on for one more page and throws the rhythm all out of whack.
 
The pencils, inks and colors of Nic Klein are the best part about this book.  He skillfully sets up the mood of each scene and is efficient in his panel layouts getting the most out of each page.  His coloring in particular I found pleasant to the eye, especially the outdoor scenes at night.  There's one sequence in particular that stood out for me on both read-throughs as being quite beautiful and it simply shows two of the characters running through a moonlit park.  The way that Klein has positioned one perfectly square panel over top of a larger zoomed out image of the cityscape has a really nice look and feel to it.  He is very capable at visual storytelling and this stands out in the wordless sequences, the only part of the book where I felt properly drawn into the story.
 
I can see how some people may like this comic but when it comes down to it I simply didn't find myself properly engaged.  The art and atmosphere is good but the characters are bland, dull and uninteresting.  
 
6 out of 10    

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