Good evening, reader(s)! Every now and then, I come across some comic creators in the wild that I see putting their heart and soul into their works and I often ask myself “What can I do to help?” Sometimes I just like the post or maybe even back the Kickstarter and move on, but other times I see the struggle it takes to create. Hell, I’m a comic writer who’s about to attempt a much better Kickstarter on top of operating my first Author’s Fair table next month in Indianapolis, IN (I’ll advertise that once we’re a week out from that). This is my way of helping: by crossing the people who potentially lay eyes on my blog site and the ones who need exposure.

I reached out to LaShawn Owens after seeing his facebook group post speaking on advice about his running comic series King of N0thing, a spin-off from another comic series called Suicide South. While it’s currently on its current run, I can say I’ve surmised a viewpoint within the first few chapters released. Let’s begin.

So the comic looks to begin from the previous Suicide South comic run, judging from the immediate action panel and foreshadowing. I’m not going to lie: I’m coming across this issue without the proper backstory, so I’m focusing on the art, the cohesive idea, and the comic staying power. Let’s begin the review with that being said!

The artwork is actually pretty solid! I do enjoy the Sin City-esque visuals over the crime-riddled story aspects. It brings so much character to the pages like this. I do see the apparent glitches here and there (Character appendages off a bit here, some decent-ish lines where some better ones should be), but for an indie comic is has the appeal down.

The story is sort’ve throwing me a bit, but I’m eager to piece all of that together over time. Without saying much since I’d rather he tell you, the combat scene is done real well ,and it looks like a trade-off is going to ramp up the rising action in a great way! I just wish that a call-back or two was apparent so that we’d at least be enticed to look for the other series prior to reading. He does mention it in the comic description, but call-backs are more powerful with direct sequences.

Not going to lie. It’s a gem in the rough and the rough is entirely packaged inside of more rough! I’d stick by it if I were you and connect with the artist to possibly help him grow. Comics like these are essential to the process and often are much more important than bright colors and convoluted storylines (I’m talking to you, Tetsuya Nomura!). Patience is a real virtue and you’ll be missed if you ignore this brother’s work. Let’s build on ourselves and collaborate!