Hey guys back for another week of WHY YOU SHOULD BE READING…
After coming off a successful Rose City Comicon, it’s time to get back into some comics. This weeks’ title came by suggestion of one of my favorite comic Vendors. He happens to be friends with writer Christopher Mills, and was quite excited that this comic is being published hard copy after ten years of knowing the character. Grave Digger has been an underground online comic that is now resurfacing to new audiences, and I must say I am happy to be apart of this resurgence! As a person who likes to find the lesser known, less obvious titles, this has become a gem of a read, and I’m excited I have the type of personality that allows people to recommend these types of stories, I understand not everyone is into lesser known titles and I find it awesome I seem to stumble into the pockets that do. So with that being said we are going to dive right into the action!
GraveDigger (and no I don’t mean the Monster Truck) is a comic that follows lead character McCrae who is a career criminal that tends to get into life threatening situations. In this column we will be following The Pedators Mini arc that spans 2 issues. There is also a trade out with the arc Hot Women, Cold cash… that I plan on reading, just need the track it down (ebay here I come).
Now McCrae has made quite the name for himself by doing various jobs and Mcgivering out of situations, this allows him to be somewhat feared by other criminals who know of him and his work, giving him a bit of mystique. Visually his character is modeled after actor Lee Marvin who was successful in the 60’s and known for his solid stature and white silver fox hair. I like how well the character’s look translates with the story, giving it a hard nose look and it kinda feels like an 80’s style approach. McCrea is tough but cunning, and we see this very quickly as he garners a young female’s attention, it doesn’t take long before he starts courting her and they begin a fiery romance making McCrea quite happy in the process. The funny thing is McCrea should be on vacation, and he seems to be enjoying it as such, the problem stems from jealously which it often can, and his vacation love affair soon becomes a dance with death. Adding to our story we find out the young women is a Gangster Boss Mr. Castellari’s daughter, and even though initially he had no problems with McCrea romancing his daughter, it was her winding up dead that caused the issue. With being the primary suspect comes a lot of headaches, especially when dealing with a scorn mob boss, and that is where this story kicks into overdrive forcing McCrea into thinking fast to clear his name, or die horribly in the process.
The simple straight to the point dialog is really something that stuck out to me, I like it because it drives McCrea’s character home, the way he is written promotes we shouldn’t expect him to get crazy or complicated, he is in your face and blunt which gives us awesome exchanges between characters, and even better narrations. Mills does a wonderful job keeping this a page turner by spacing his story in proper fashion, as well as the dialog I just mentioned. To add to the uniqueness of the book the pages are horizontal instead of vertical, and it kind of feels like you’re reading a newspaper sized flip book, personally I love this and it only adds the experience of reading the book itself and not just the story. Artwork wise we get a more standard black and white look with wonderful shading, I think color would offset the gritty nature of the product, so I love the classic touch of black and white with a shiny finish.
Well everyone I kept this one straight to the point to pay homage to the very story we are discussing, and to be honest I’m also battling a cold that’s
going round. Make sure you check out this series, and consider picking up the issues mention in the column as well as the trade. With a well put together package of a book, a story that is a thriller, it’s an easy choice and a read you can get sucked into. Well everyone I hope you enjoyed this and I’ll see you next week for another WHY YOU SHOULD BE READING… Segment.
– Grainbelt Jones
