I want to be honest about not being a particular fan of Adrian Tomine. I liked the collection of his Optic Nerve minis, 32 Stories, but everything after that has left me cold. His art is good, if a little stiff sometimes, but it also feels like it’s too closely copying fellow cartoonists who inspired him. Likewise, his stories don’t feel like they’re populated by real people.
The Revision: The Kitchen
The Kitchen, written by Ollie Masters, with art by Ming Doyle and colors by Jordie Bellaire, definitely feels like it was another case of being conceived as a screenplay first and then adapted into a comic to sell the film rights. Except worse than that, it feels like the outline of a screenplay.
The Revision: I Kill Giants
I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly (writer) and J. M. Ken Niimura (artist) definitely feels very personal and I am happy to be a bit charitable because of that. It’s compassionate toward its characters and the mix of fantasy danger and real-world trauma works to an extent. I just feel like it all comes together in too obvious of a way.
The Revision: Atomic Blonde
Too much of The Coldest City feels like it was conceived as a screenplay and then changed into a comic to make it an easier pitch to Hollywood. Johnston has good ideas here but the twists and turns don’t offer anything unexpected.
The Revision: Alena
Kim W. Andersson brings all the heightened emotions without many nuances to Alena. It doesn’t need nuance, particularly, though. This is going to be a story that ends badly because that’s how all these stories end.