Woof, Berds!
James here, bringing you a review of the latest issue of Bludgeon, the comic by adorable (and frequent headliner here at Bear Nerd) creator Jeremy Owen! Let’s do this!
This is the third issue of the series (click here to read the review for #0 and an interview with the author, and here for #01’s review). The story picks up straight from where it left last issue: Hot from his fight at the outskirts of town, Bludgeon runs into Alice, who promptly drags him to the Tackle Box, the city’s gay night spot.
The first third of the story shows us the hero meeting Alice’s social circle, and it focuses mainly on the interaction of these characters with each other: We meet Chunk, who runs the bar, Jake, the ursine friend, and Larry, the gay prime. Owen really shines in showing Bludgeon’s awkwardness at being thrown unexpectedly in the middle of a circle of friends he hasn’t met.
The interplay between the characters rings true, and it makes the reader want to know more about these people. What really helps sell these characters as people, and makes the scenes convincing, is the great job Jeremy Owen does with facial expressions and body language. Owen’s art keeps getting better, which is even more pleasant in the moments when Mike/Bludgeon shows us what he’s got, which is not hard on the eyes AT ALL!
The story follows Bludgeon out of the bar and into a fight sequence with the monsters’s from last issue, in a moment when the hero, confused and surprised, finds himself in a situation where he can’t trust his own powers. The creatures are appropriately creepy, and they remind me of the kind of beast Swamp Thing faced durin Alan Moore’s run on that book.
The story ends with a very interesting flashback sequence, drawn by the series co-writer, Greg Freeland II, who has an art style very different from Owen’s, but equally skillful. We also get a couple of pinups, one of which is by Wuvable Oaf‘s creator, the great Ed Luce (whom we’ve already interviewed here).
And that’s all for now, folks – Another great issue of Bludgeon, which can be purchased at the author’s site, Burly Press. Go for it, and see ya next time!
