OFF THE RACK: MudMan #1

Hello all and welcome to this week’s edition of OFF THE RACK.  Continuing my goal of bringing you thoughts on the latest comic releases I have chosen a different kind of book this week.  It’s still independent, which a lot of my books in the past have been.  No, the difference is in that it’s based in the UK, complete with lingo and everything!

MudMan is written and drawn by Paul Grist who is known for his less-than-normal super hero stories and MudMan is no different.

Set in a small seaside town in southwest England, the story follows Owen Craig.  Initially he and his best friend Jack Newton are seen exploring a creepy abandoned house, commonly referred to as “the old Scooby Doo house.”  While exploring it he comes across a secret room containing a superhero costume.  But the two boys are scared off when they hear a noise in the house.

 

Craig, running from people who were hiding out in the abandoned domicile, is shot at and collapses into the mud outside the house.  He wakes up at home, presuming it was all a dream.

 

It wasn’t.

The next morning his hands appear as molded mud.  While distractedly crossing a street near his school a car hits him and what’s left in his wake is a huge swathe of mud and he is unharmed by the incident.

 

On his way home from school he’s passing the Scooby Doo house on his bike and he sees his dad’s car outside.  Knowing something is wrong he calls the police and goes inside (not the brightest kid, I know).

 

But he has a brilliant idea!  He sneaks up the secret room and puts on the costume.  But he’s been followed upstairs by one of the perpetrators of his dad’s nabbing and as Craig pounces into action he’s shot, three times.

 

All we see coming out is mud.

 

 

MudMan is an incredibly well written, engaging and thought provoking story.  Issue one, unlike some other’s I’ve reviewed before, makes sense as an origin and leaves the reader wanting to know more of the story.  Not just because it ends on an obvious cliffhanger moment, but because you are genuinely interested in learning more about the character and where his story will go.

 

Overall, MudMan gets an A for story, artistic style, and cool Star Wars references along the way.

 

Hope you enjoyed this week’s preview version of OFF THE RACK.  Check back next week for an all new comic review!

 

For now…

 

This is your Bin Fodder Guru Tim Blacksmith signing off.

Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.