Review: Salvador #1 (First Impressions Special)
Dan Coyle

Salvador # 1 (of 5)

Writers: Mark Polish, Michael Polish, and Sebastian Jones
Aritst: Steph Stamb
Sketch and Conceptual Artist: Darrell May
Conceptual Artist: Peter Bergting
Logo Designer: Christopher Walmsley and Stamb
Managing Editor: Marhsall Dillon
Publisher: Boom! Studios

Plot: A mysterious being clad all in white falls to earth. Wounded he is carried to a temple by even more mysterious beings. It's so damn mysterious!

Critique: A few years ago, I invented for myself the SteamPunk Rule of Comics. The rule goes like this: if I can't figure out what's happening in your science fiction comic after six issues unless I refer back to interviews and press materials, then you've failed as storytellers. SteamPunk, created by Chris Bachalo and Joe Kelly, both known for extremely challenging, outre storytelling, went for 8 issues and a prologue with me before I realized that I still only had an understanding of its world and the characters' motivations because of what Kelly and Bachalo, who originally conceptualized it as a video game, had said prior to launch. There's challenging storytelling and then there's just being obtuse for the sake of it, and in my opinion Kelly and Bachalo crossed that line.

Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to Salvador. A good chunk of the material coming out of Boom! Studios looks like TV or film pitches modified for comic book format. 2 Guns, one of their strongest recent releases, is basically a screenplay put to the four color page. Andrew Cosby, co-creator of Sci-Fi Channel's Eureka, runs the company with Ross Richie and has several series coming out from them, as do TV and film writers John Rogers and Johanna Stokes.

Mark and Michael Polish are twin brother filmmakers who have made a reputation as a sort of cross between the Coen brothers and David Lynch. They co-write, Mark acts, Michael directs. Their most recent film, The Astronaut Farmer, came out this past March. I haven't had the opportunity to see any of their films yet, but Salvador gives one the impression that it's another film idea put to the comic page: along with artist Steph Stamb, two conceptual artists are credited, and the world of the title character looks astonishing, and prohibitively expensive. And as a first chapter of a story, utterly confounding. Salvador is big on the SteamPunk rule: so I guess this figure falling to earth is Salvador? (checks solicits) I guess so. What happened to him? How'd he fall? Where is he? Who are those people taking him away? How did they get from the city to the jungle so fast? Most importantly, why should I care?

Granted, the Polish brothers and their co-writer Sebastian Jones could be setting the reader up for an avalanche of exposition in the next issue. It could break the rule and all become very clear over the five issue run of the series. I'm not sure it's entirely fair, however, to charge $3.99 for such a stripped down, decompressed, might-have-been-the-movie's-first-five-minutes sequence...

...were it not so freakin' beautiful. I've never seen Steph Stamb's name in a comic before, but I find it hard to believe he's flown under the radar for long. He's stunningly talented- The opening pages as Salvador falls to earth are great, the scenes of the temple he's taken to are incredible. There are a lot of splash pages in this issue, in addition to no dialogue, making it a very quick read, but Stamb puts in a tremendous amount of effort on those splashes. What's going on? I haven't a clue. But Jones and the Polish brothers have given Stamb an opportunity to go hog wild with it, and the four of them have produced a comic that is alternately frustrating as hell yet oddly compelling. Like SteamPunk, I'm lost. Unlike SteamPunk, I'm a bit more confident that I'll be satisfied.

It may sound like I've been bashing this comic for the last few paragraphs, but despite my big reservations with the first issue, I have to recommend with reservations Salvador; certainly for Stamb's artwork, but also that the Polish Brothers and Stamb are trying to do something that is quite rare in comics these days: a lyrical, purely visual science fiction tale that challenges the reader. Is it worth $3.99 an issue to answer this challenge? I'm not entirely sure, but what I do know is: I can't wait to find out.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Dan Coyle is a regular contributor to PopImage.


PopImage Forum - Discuss this message at the PopImage forum.
First Impressions - June

Reviews Archive - Read past Reviews