Nothing can describe Material, but at the same time everything can describe Material. We don’t just focus on one character and that character’s movements. Instead Ales Kot follows many different people with one thing in common; they are all struggling. No matter what comic you read, someone is struggling with something. That is what life is, so to take multiple stories and tell of life’s struggle not just the individual then you have something anyone can relate to. In some aspects, I think Material hit its mark, but with others I felt confused. It always happens that when you have multiple stories with no relation that the reader will pick their favorites and think the other stories are just a chore to read. Unfortunately this happen to me with Material and I think all readers will agree. We follow a professor who meets an unlikely acquaintance inside his computer. A.I. goes against everything this man believes in, but instead of turning away or turning the thing off, he engages making him and us questioning his purpose. Then you met a girl, which happens to be my least favorite story, trying to make it back into the acting world. Of course she is on drugs and seems to be more concerned about her next high than auditioning for parts. It is really hard to get normal people to relate to celebrities and the life they go through, so again her story doesn’t exactly stick with me.
The last two, I think will be the most interesting and probably the most popular. (Although I say last two with a grain of salt because we may get introduced to more stories.) The first follows a man who gets released from Guantanamo Bay. He was tortured there and by the looks of the first issue suffers from PTSD. He is changed and nothing has changed with him. Not only do I think his story will popular for the stereotypical reasons, being a middle aged male with this back from war mentally and now wanting unusual things, but also because he has the most to say. His story is unimaginable so to judge him wouldn’t be fair.
The other story follows an African American boy who gets caught up in a riot and gets himself interrogated. The cops treat him with no respect or dignity, so after being released you don’t know where this boy is headed. I think this kid will have the most relatable story because of the current news that surrounds his story and also because we have all felt alienated before. We all had to make tough choices and still don’t know what was right.
All in all, I feel like the comic had some good moments with the young boy especially. At other times, I felt rushed through the story just because it wasn’t my cup of tea. With only issue out and me having some doubts with the main characters makes me nervous that I may just want to skip it all together, but Material is definitely a different read for me this week. So if you like different and if you like layers then go for it.
Score: 2/5
Material #1 Writer: Ales Kot Artist: Will Tempest Publisher: Image Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 5/27/15 Format: Ongoing, Print/Digital