Swan Songs #1, from Image Comics, is writer W. Maxwell Prince’s new mini-series of one-shot stories. While the ancient Greek literature expression ’swan song’ means ‘retirement’, in this instance it is more like ’the end’.
And so it begins, in post-Apocalyptic days, with the atomic clock ticking down to total annihilation. A young man and his ‘ma’ are in her sick room, and he is reading to her. She is very ill. He decides to brave the neighbourhood in order to step out and buy a magazine for her. But the neighbourhood is in ruins, filled with all sorts of freaky mutants. So dangerous.
Illustrator Martin Simmonds does a commendable job in portraying the city, the filth, and aberration. Simmonds’ panels are tilted and skewed, colour is sprayed and fragmented over the page. Simmonds makes the art an adventure to behold, a journey through hyperactive urban streets and sidewalks, “every crack can break your mother’s back” indeed.
Prince’s dialogues and captions are powerful. The words are accented, full of hope and despair at the same time. Same time but different mood, different longings for a better mental health day, a better poke at the future. Lettering is by Good Old Neon.
All in all, it’s a ’slice of life’ tale, a dip into the pit of despair, a short story rather than a continued saga, and we are grateful for this inventive, imaginative sketch. Future issues will be written by Prince, and illustrated by a rotating roster of artists.
Image Comics, Swan Songs #1, $3.99 for 26 pages of content.
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