Twittering @nickawgomez
- This Week in X – 15/5/14 - 15 May, 2014
- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY - 3 May, 2014
- We want TRAILERS not SPOILERS! - 30 April, 2014
While the big universes of Marvel and DC continue to entertain on a grand scale, there is always room for something newer, and a little rough around the edges, to take a flight of fancy and re-imagine the comic book world. Either that or it can just be a mind-**** in what?! How?! Why?!
CHOKE is a new comic by Matt Skingsley which throws together one world in two times plus a pick’n’mix of familiar tropes and real world situations to create a new kind or super-powered hooker story; although I don’t know of that many in general.
This graphic novel, which is borderline pornographic at times, pits a modern day, lowlife protagonist on course to clash against a very angry, time travelling, police unit in a dystopian future. It sounds like a lot for one issue but it is all in there.
In the present day, the ‘‘hero’’ of the story, Fynn Smith, is pimping himself to anyone with cash but refuses to change his dangerous lifestyle. He stifles his own growth and fails to realize his own potential, shown when he scrambles for his life then takes flight off of a building. (He can fly? He can fly. HE CAN FLY!)
Despite his self perpetuating hatred of himself and lack of hope, this young gay man is supposed to be the one who saves the world; not that he can do that on his knees, so there is probably a long and difficult journey ahead.
The journey will likely see him dragged along, screaming and moaning, by future cop who plays Maria Hill to Terminator-Nick Fury hybrid who she’s sleeping with. It’s all quite tense in the future so her sudden bombardment into the present is likely to sweep us into adventure before she introduces herself.
The distinctive pastel coloured art lends itself to a vague universe that seems to be normal but clashes with startling powers, strange people and gritty and grotesque situations. Open your mind and flick through pages of the unexpected, just don’t look for any moral guidance. If nothing else, it is still extremely rare to find a story that is not centred on a heterosexual character. Bonus points!
CHOKE is released on 1 May 2014.
