Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Story Title: Roadside Distractions
Written by: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by: Kalman Andrasofszky
Colored by: Udon
Lettered by: Rob Leigh
Editor: Tom Palmer Jr.
Publisher: DC Comics
The Matrix-light
Nothing about this series has blown me away; in fact, it was a quirk of fate that brought me to reading issue #2. When I read comics, the writing is about 60% of the package. This is not to say that I’m not all for the art. I love the artwork too; I would read more books, and fewer comics, if I didn’t care about the artwork. Thing is, a bad story is the first reason I’ll drop a comic book. After all, why read at all if the story sucks. The story for iCandy thus far has been somewhat lacking, but the art has been simply mind-blowing. Yet, here I am, and here I’ll stay for now.
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, known as DnA, are a great team. What they’ve put together here is an entertaining gimmick comic. They’re not going for a deeply convoluted Matrix style storyline. As I mentioned in my review last month, this book’s a reverse of TRON where the video game characters come to our world. You add a little bit of The Matrix, with regard to the fight scenes, and you’ve got iCandy.
I hate to be pretentious with what I read. I’m willing to try almost anything in the comic book world, and quite often the weirdest books stick with me. I crave slightly different reads in my pile each month, and that’s probably why I’m sticking with iCandy. Hell, I did the same thing with Bad Girls, following a lackluster first issue, and I’ve only liked it more and more each month.
Laying the cash down on your candy-ass!
Matt is a young kid on the run with the collection of bits that may be his sister, Candy. The video game maker that Matt’s dad works for is clearly behind Candy’s condition, and they’ve sent a weird human/video game hybrid out to get Matt, and Candy. This month we learn there is someone else with a vested interest in the fugitives. Candy must protect Matt from some wicked bytes in their own right.
Who knows exactly what’s going on, but it’s a ton of fun. Candy pulls a shotgun out of thin air using an inventory screen and starts blasting away. She uses some crazy moves that would make Keanu Reeves proud, and vanquishes the seen enemy with tremendous flair. Of course, Kalman Andrasofszky renders everything with near perfection.
The more iCandy that I read, I just have to say that this book rocks. There’s a very minimalist plotline going on, but the outrageous fight scenes really steal the book. The title of the book alone is really a great description of the series. This is eye-candy of the highest order, but that isn’t a bad thing. This is an action driven book that’s totally different than anything else on the shelves today. While I was a little disappointed with the direction at the start, I must say that DnA has crafted an amazingly cool storyline that should appeal to people of all ages. This is the type of book that DC needs to promote to the youth market. This is their speed!
