A Little Off The Top #1-4
Writers: Greg Pilkington, Billy Martin
Artist: Jasreet “Jazz” Singh
Publisher: Low Five Productions
Review by Josh Rose
Imagine a world where having good hair determines your social status. I guess we already have that. Okay, imagine barbers having the power to depose royalty just by cutting hair. Imagine everyone having hair powers, not quite like Medusa from the Inhumans, but being able to make suits of armour and weapons from it. Welcome to the world of A Little Off The Top.
A Little Off The Top is about Abigail Theodosia as she seeks revenge for the death of her family at the hands of the royal family. Along the way she meets Matt, a mysterious stranger with ties to the royals, Pigtails, a cowgirl with a penchant for drinking, and a larger-than life-pirate named Gaurav.
In addition to the puns and quick one-liners, I really like the flow of this book. Greg Pilkington and Billy Martin do a great job introducing us to this world before getting into the action. With each book, they introduce a new main character to help Abigail escape the royal guard. And each of this new characters has their own reason for wanting to depose of the king.
I like Jasreet Singh’s art; it’s very bright, and his characters are full of emotion. He does an amazing job with the hair, but sometimes I feel like he rushed the artwork. At times the art is super detailed, but at other times he’s missing faces. At one point Abigail is sitting in a water fountain, but she looks as if she’s on top of the water rather than wet and in it. One thing that Singh does do an excellent job at is obscuring the king in shadows, hiding him until the final fight.
The Verdict: Buy it.
A Little Off The Top is a unique tale that is just fantastic, yet with grounding elements. It’s a complex culture, with a complete history, and very different characters. The story isn’t complete yet, so I’m looking forward to the next couple issues and seeing the barber Abigail fight the king.
