Proactive Insurance: The Pros

When I met him earlier this month at Rose City Comic Con, Steven Stormoen gave me the worst pitch I’ve ever heard for his (or any!) comic series: “If you’re into insurance companies, you’re going to love The Pros.” He was dramatically underselling it.

The Pros has a decidedly cynical premise. It stars a group of covert agents working for an insurance company to fix events ahead of time in high risk scenarios in order to give the company foreknowledge about how said scenarios will turn out. The company doesn’t care what the agents do or whether the scenario has a happy or tragic conclusion, it just wants to know the outcome ahead of time so it can plan accordingly––and make a lot of money. It’s the kind of set up that can only come from a place of deep despair regarding the state of contemporary culture.

But here’s the thing: The Pros was clearly created by idealists. Stormoen is acknowledging the seeming hopelessness of our current state of affairs, affirming all our suspicions about the inherent corruption in our society and then making an argument for the only moral response to these facts: resistance. Even if you fail, you have to push back.

Don’t get the wrong idea here though. This is a fun book. Beautifully crafted by artist Jelena Dordevic. It’s farcical, cathartic fun. Which makes it all the more impressive an accomplishment that it is also a book about something.

You can pick up all four available issues of the first story arc at moreweight.net. …and you should.

STROPER

As the writer of a science fiction, space adventure webcomic with a retro-futuristic aesthetic, hyper-vivid colors, dramatic lighting and a tough-guy protagonist possessing of a somewhat antiquated sense of style, it can be hard to solve for the variable in the all-important equation “If you like ‘X’ you may also like my comic, Ion Grip.” But now I’ve found Stroper––a science fiction, space adventure webcomic with a retro-futuristic aesthetic, hyper-vivid colors, dramatic lighting and a tough-guy protagonist possessing of a somewhat antiquated sense of style––by Eddie Porter. And holy damn do I find myself in good company.

Stroper is the story of Pak Booker, a mulleted poacher of endangered alien wildlife. Booker seems to take no joy in his work; indeed, the danger inherent in the job and the great length he is willing to go to in stalking his prey demonstrate the terrible need Booker must be in to resort to a life of crime. All this is subtly and competently covered in the first few pages of issue #1 and sets up our Anti-hero’s true antagonist: a universe rife with injustice, corruption, and oppression.

Eddie Porter writes and draws this book with the laser-focused vision one only finds in single-creator works, and yet he somehow avoids the self-indulgent pitfalls that many such books succumb to. He chooses his battles, both narratively and stylistically, providing the reader with a concise story and a stark, cartoony aesthetic. No panel is wasted––long, shadowy scene-setters burst with mood, action scenes punch you with just the right microsecond, and dialogue is brief but nuanced. I am not aware of any other comic Porter has worked on, but he attacks this book like a veteran, confident in his skills.

Issues #1 and #2 are available now and I highly recommend fans of Ion Grip and innovative comic storytelling go pick them up.

Small Press Finds from San Diego Comic Con 2016 - Native Drums

Native Drums (17Machine Studios) is like a Greek epic poem, but with a cabal of corporate masterminds in their orbital Olympus rather than a pantheon of gods and a genetically enhanced super-soldier in place Perseus or Odysseus. It has that straight-forward heroic adventure appeal that belies the depths of many a great narrative. Several days after finishing the first trade of this independently published comic series, I’m left pondering the significance of the question at the core of the heroine's journey.

The protagonist is agent M17, a resilient warrior as strong as she is smart. Writers are often advised to “start with action”––which, in my opinion, is just as problematic (for the purpose of engaging a new audience) as starting with a character portrait or a doxology on the nature of man. Why do I care about what’s happening? What’s really at stake? Native Drums jumps into the action at the start of issue #1, and it’s the protagonist herself that pushes the reader past any apprehension about the worthiness of the tale. Artist, Vince Riley, designed an instant charmer. Far more than just a ‘babe with a gun,’ M17 emotes with every panel, leading the reader’s feelings with her expressive eyes. She’s clever and quipy, thanks to Chuck Pascall’s dialogue; if you’ve been missing Buffy on the small screen (and already burned through the comic follow-up) M17 does not disappoint. It’s important that the creative team succeeds in making you like M17, because the central conflict revolves around the question of whether goodness––as personified in her character––can ever triumph over the pragmatism available to the truly evil. You have to believe in her as your moral stand-in for the story to work––and you do!

This question at the core of the Native Drums is a subtle but powerful one: two agents strive against each other, one encumbered with the burden of moral virtue, the other willing to do anything, hurt anyone, to accomplish the mission––which agent wins the contest? On this level, Native Drums is less a philosophical exploration than it is an affirmation of our shared human values. It allows the reader to root whole-heartedly for M17, while pondering the genuine seductiveness of abandoning one’s principles when it’s convenient to do so. In other words, as the epic struggle plays out on the pages of Native Drums, it also plays out in the reader’s heart and mind.

You can pick up the digital version of Native Drums on Comixology and the print version from 17 Machine Studio's online store.