Reviews»Comic Books»Sundowners #1
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Kareem Ali 4.5

Sundowners #1

 

  • The good

    Intriguing characters, premise works very well, and the artwork complements the tone of the story

  • The bad

    Haphazard plan towards the end that didn't consider response of others. Character introduced at beginning is never shown again

  • The ugly

    • Sundowners #1 is a new series written by Tim Seeley and published by Dark Horse Comics about a group of eccentric characters banding together during their support sessions. It opens up with one calling herself the Pigeon reflecting on her nights fighting crime while contemplating what it means for her to be giving that up. However, it wouldn’t be due to her no longer wanting to make a difference but as a result of “seeing them,” and wanting to make an even bigger difference. She’s not the only one who feels this way in this city as David Shrejic would tell Dr. Brunner that he’s a completely different man during their brief meeting in a bar. He tells her that it’s due to this support group he started after being inspired by all the support groups he’s belonged to. He says he pretty much stumbled onto a new disorder that’s completely undiagnosed, and not only does he get paid for it but it’s highly entertaining. Before skipping out on the tab on the way to a meeting, he tells her that it’s the best thing that has ever happened to him. The name of the group is the Sundowners Support Group, in reference to their activities when the sun goes down. And all of them have unique encounters where they see things others don’t and it changes them. And with names like Crowlita, the Concerned Citizen, and Arcanika, for example, it’s likely they could all be suffering from various mental disorders. Or could there be some truth to the stories they tell?

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    Sundowners #1 was the type of issue where you’re not sure what’s going on when it starts but it’s actually very enjoyable. And that’s because the premise and eccentric characters elicit the gawker mentality where you’re watching a wreck but your curiosity is just too high. So when David Shrejic, or Shreds, was describing this group to Dr. Brunner he was basically describing to the reader why this group was so fascinating, and as a result gave it an interesting context. And when we’re introduced to the members of the group who possess this “colorful and sexy” disorder, they were actually fascinating. Introducing them through the support group worked extremely well as it showed the characters clearly had issues, and so their stories could have been due to that without ruling out the possibility that there might be some truth to their experiences. This kept the story entertaining and suspenseful. For example, one character, Arcanika, is a kleptomaniac but says she commits these crimes because doing so is supposed to give her superhuman strength.  And when she relays how she failed at moving cars and a truck with her bare hands she tells the group that she wonders if she just hasn’t committed serious enough crimes for her power to truly be effective. And it’s tantalizing wondering if she actually has some kind of powers or if she’s just crazy. However, this issue doesn’t just tease with these questions in a highly entertaining way, it gets deeper and starts to give some answers as a situation arises where they have to spring into action. And the artwork by Jim Terry works for the most part because what needs to be clear in the panels whether it’s a character’s expression or an action sequence, although there were a few instances where the detail in panels was lacking. But overall I love it, and it captures the tone of the series perfectly. And with the last panel of this issue I can’t wait to see how things unfold next issue.

     

    SUMMARY

    Sundowners #1 is an interesting and entertaining start to a series that effectively takes the quirky nature of its characters and creates a world that is both engrossing and unique. The angle it takes regarding its superheroes is refreshing, and the build up and suspense is rewarded with a shocking ending that can take the series in an unpredictable direction. I didn’t know what to expect when I opened up this issue, and I’m still not sure what to expect, but if this start is indicative of the entire series I know it’ll be entertaining.

     

    Release Date: 8/27/14

    Writer: Tim Seeley

    Artist: Jim Terry

  • Rating ( 8.75 )
  • Total score 8.8

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