CBI Archive
Suburban Glamour #1 Review
- by Brian Cronin
- in Comic Reviews
Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 4:10 AM EST
Updated: Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 3:34 PM EST
Jamie McKelvie’s debut solo comic from Image (McKelvie was the artist on Phonogram) came out this week, and it opens strongly, with some very nice characterization building and an amusing/interesting premise.
The comic follows two best friends, Astrid and Dave, who live in a small English suburban town. For the majority of the issue, the pair lead their normal lives, until Astrid is confronted by her childhood imaginary friends, and it is a hint that something magical and big is coming to Astrid and Dave’s otherwise dull existence.
A challenge for most any writer is to make a story that is designed to show people doing “normal” stuff seem interesting. I think McKelvie does a nice job with this, which is important because if you can get your readers interested in the characters BEFORE you dump the big twist on them, then you know you’ve got them hooked.
Their interactions were believable and compelling, and Astrid was interesting enough (and likable enough) for us to want to follow for the rest of the series.
The mysterious woman Astrid meets, Aubrey, who has just moved to town from New York to open up a store, gives off a real “reverse Giles” vibe to me, but I suppose that is something I will find out more in the upcoming issues.
As mentioned before, the interactions between the characters were strong, particularly at the party Dave and Astrid attend, as McKelvie does a strong enough job establishing their personalities that we can almost predict how they will act with different people, and they do (which is a good sign of consistent characterization).
I enjoy McKelvie’s depiction of their clothing and their facial expressions. It is strong, detailed work.
McKelvie’s clean art style works well for the book, especially when the imaginary creatures show up, because they look even more out of place the way he draws, which makes the distinction between them and the “real” world really pop for the reader.
Speaking of “popping,” was I the only one who didn’t realize at first that the tattooed woman was, in fact, tattooed? It looked like colored sleeves to me at first. Totally minor detail, but I was curious if anyone else was confused.
In any event, this is a strong, fun first issue that explores what happens when the mundane meets the magical.
Sorta like the title of the book, no?
Recommended.
13 Comments
StopsAtGreen
October 18, 2007 at 4:18 am
I was utterly deceived by Phonogram; after reading so many good things about it I was looking forward to it a lot, but I found the writing overly-florid and stilted, and the art stiff; it may be nice for illustration, but it gives no sense of movement, of being alive. I won’t be buying Suburban Glamour.
T.
October 18, 2007 at 4:27 am
With art like that, I truly don’t even care about the story. I’ll buy it just to look at, I like the art that much.
Brian Cronin
October 18, 2007 at 4:27 am
While not knocking Phonogram, Suburban Glamour is a good deal less florid than Phonogram. It’s a very simple, straightforward story - just with imaginary creatures tossed in.
Jamie McKelvie
October 18, 2007 at 4:36 am
Hey Brian, thanks very much for the review. I’m really pleased you’ve singled out stuff I’ve worked hard on trying to get right. For a modern fantasy book like this, I think it’s very important for the “real life” aspects to *feel* real, otherwise the fantasy part becomes harder to swallow.
Interesting comments on Aubrey, too.
StopsatGreen - I’m sorry you won’t be trying the book out. For the record, I do agree that I’ve had issues with trying to show movement in my work in the past, but I think this book (and even the later issues of Phonogram) is a big improvement on that score. I’ve not been drawing for all that long, so I’m kind of making my mistakes in public. But that makes it easier for me to see how I’ve been developing over the last couple of years.
T.
October 18, 2007 at 4:49 am
Just wanted to clarify for the record, I haven’t actually read the book and don’t know if the story is good or not. But regardless of whether the story turns out good, what I’ve seen of the art is enough to hook me, regardless of how the writing turns out. This guy seems to have an excellent sense of design.
Matthew
October 18, 2007 at 6:10 am
Like I said on Kieron’s blog I’ll be picking this up on general principles, but it’s nice to know the story shows promise as well.
Kieron Gillen
October 18, 2007 at 6:16 am
It’s a kick to see McKelvie’s art not sealed in the aspic of my overwritten caption boxes.
I mean, HE wouldn’t use phrases like “sealed in the aspic of my overwritten caption boxes”, for a start.
(And - as McKelvie notes - while his art grew across Phonogram, there’s another leap from that to this.)
KG
comb & razor
October 18, 2007 at 1:13 pm
wait… this actually came out yesterday?
i went to three stores and none of them got it in!
incidentally, Brian… looks like you’re misspelling Jamie’s last name.
Jesse Farrell
October 19, 2007 at 2:55 am
I’m very glad to see this is out and I’ll be sure and pick it up. I was lucky enough to buy a piece of original Jamie McKelvie art (a drawing of Moore and Gibson’s Halo Jones) at an art auction a few years ago and immidiately said “Why isn’t this guy drawing comics?!” I’ve been very pleased to see him drawing them since. He appears incapable of a bad drawing.
If he can write, too… Well then I’ll likely break my own fingers out of jealousy.
Not even slightly hungover! « Jamie McKelvie’s Workblog
October 19, 2007 at 3:33 am
[…] Brian Cronin at Comic Book Resources - Jamie McKelvie’s debut solo comic from Image (McKelvie was the artist on Phonogram) came out this week, and it opens strongly, with some very nice characterization building and an amusing/interesting premise. […]
Kieron Gillen’s Workblog » For God’s Sake, Buy Suburban Glamour
October 19, 2007 at 10:28 am
[…] Reviewers seem to like it. […]
Jed
October 22, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I liked it alot! Fun art. Fun Story. Fun Twist.
Lite reklam innan filmen « Maela.has.it
October 31, 2007 at 10:24 am
[…] Min nya favoritaffär heter Horizon Comics. Ett perfekt alternativ för dig som inte orkar/vill prenumerera. Själv var jag egentligen ute efter Suburban Glamour #1 som jag hört mycket gott om, men passade även på att testa lite Thor, She-Hulk och X-Men. Tolv tidningar kostar $13 i frakt. Ett mycket bra pris då samtliga tidningar är ‘bagged & boarded’, det blir ju en del extra vikt. Snabb leverans, paketet landade hos mig efter fem arbetsdagar. Värdet nedskrivet från $42 till $18 så känn er blåsta, Tullverket. Jag är nöjd som Kikki Danielsson i en falukorvsaffär. […]