Slam! #2 Review

Slam! #2

Written by Pamela Ribon
Illustrated by Veronica Fish
Colors by Brittany Peer
Letters by Jim Campbell
Published by BOOM! Box

Review by Gregory Brothers

Last month Slam! was able to push and fight its way into readers hearts as we were introduced to the world of Roller Derby as a new group of girls were recruited, coached and then drafted onto the already existing teams. Issue #1 focused on Jennifer and Maise as they both join the roller derby for different reason, but become fast friends as they adjust to this new hobby. In the end, the two girls decide that they cannot imagine not being around each other so much that they decide to become roommates.

One of the hardest things to do in writing a comic series is to learn how to pace things out so that every issue the readers feels like they are taking away something valuable. Slam! #2 does a great job of building upon the foundation that was laid in the first issue while adding more depth to our two main characters and starting to introduce the supporting cast. One of the new characters that we are introduced to is Velvet Coffin who is a vet when it comes to the roller derby world. She tends not to take well to the new girls and seems to not like her new teammate Knockout. Besides finding out that Coffin is old school when it comes to how she plays roller derby we as readers do find out that she has a quieter more mundane life away from the rink. The way that Ribon is already doing the world building it can be assumed that somewhere down the road that yin and yang of Coffin’s two personalities will eventually cross paths. Throughout Slam! #2 the differences between how the two teams handle business is also shown, as we see one team is more about the competition versus the other side that seems to focus more on team building and being an extended family.

Of course, if people read Slam! #1 they are going to want to see the growth of the characters that we were introduced to then. Ribon does a great job of bringing some new elements in to the lives of Knockout and Ithinka Can to the readers. Things such as dates, practices, team rivalries, and homework assignments all work against these new friends as they try to build upon this new friendship. In many ways Slam! #2 feels like it should have been almost titled issue 1.5 because it takes so much time to continue to build the characters and the world around them. That is not a bad thing at all, but it is also a reminder to the reader that this book is going to fall under the slice of life genre so it is going to move a bit slower than an action book, as Fish is taking time to build that foundation that will help the inevitable conflicts down the read feel substantial.

Fish, Peer, and Campbell continue to knock it out of the park with the art, coloring and the lettering. Fish’s characters are drawn in a way that pull the reader in and show the emotion that Ribon is trying to portray in her writing. The lettering that Campbell does with the test conversation is unique without ever taking away from what the reader is looking at.

Verdict:

Buy It! Slam! #2 continues to build this unique world while bringing in new characters at a pace that is accessible. The foundation that Ribon is building should allow many stories to be told from this same world while readers returning will be able to find their favorites. The art continues to amaze while Campbells unique lettering layout provides a different feel to the book.