Eleanor and the Egret #1 Review
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Sam Keith
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
Review by Robert Coffil
What caught my eye about this title was the writer, John Layman. Chew was a title that I greatly enjoyed and, as he was the scribe on that, I am looking for my next fix from Layman. Aftershock is a relatively new publisher that has been making waves. To the naked eye, it seems that they are bringing relatively known talent and giving them an opportunity to tell a story. I enjoy Aftershock titles such as: Dreaming Eagles, American Monster and Shipwreck. When you combine the opportunity that Aftershock seems able to provide to creators with great talent, it is easy for me to take a leap on a title. Enter Eleanor and the Egret.
I had no idea what I was walking into when I opened Eleanor and the Egret, but boy was I impressed. The first thing that I noticed about the book was that it looks like nothing else in the market place. Sam Keith’s art work is spectacular, but unlike most books on the stand. It looks like the water colors/painting that Dept. H has with Matt Kindt and his wife Sharlene Kindt are doing except the lines in this book aren’t as straight. Both good, but this book is different.
The thing I enjoyed, narratively, about this book was how dense the story is. Layman breaks the story into several parts, or act breaks, and as the book goes on you figure out as much as the story reveals. It is both a book about a heist and about a detective trying to solve a crime with a little supernatural aspect thrown in.
Comics, in my opinion, can do heist storylines better than most mediums. Comics can provide a lens to look at both the person committing the act and the person trying to solve the crime without feeling unbalanced. Eleanor and the Egret, does this perfectly. I was sympathetic to both Detective Gilbert Belanger and Eleanor, the criminal.
Verdict:
Buy it!! I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Eleanor and the Egret is not only beautiful, but it provides a dense story that is worth every dollar you spend.
