Headspace is one of those mind fuck comics. But believe me it is a damn good fuck. One you will have to call up every Wednesday in order to get your fixed. As first issues go, sometimes you just have to hit and quit, but I think Headspace will be a definite relationship series. We deeply enter Carpenter Cove, a town in which demons roam. Without reading reviews before the issue, you will probably notice something is wrong about this town. I mean clearly there are demons and a bartender with a dog head, but something is way off. We soon discover that Shane, our main dude, is dealing with a man’s fears in this town. Ok pretty cool right. I love when comics can take us on adventures with our imagination, but just wait because the plot is just beginning.
Shane is a sheriff of the town. He has a deep past that we only see glimpses of. He clearly has got some issues. But his biggest problem is getting out of Carpenter Cove. Why would he want to get out of such a fear driven town, after all there are hovercrafts? Well, the town isn’t actually real. He is inside a man’s mind. WTF. Yeah, it just got real. Everything in this world is made up. Shane isn’t the only thing from the “real world” in this town either. He has taken on the role of being the leader though. Shane tries his best at fighting for good, but who knows if all his inhabitants feel this way. He continues to fight off the beasts too which says a lot since most people would probably just give up. I am wondering if by fighting off fear he is hurting the host.
Our host’s man is Max. So not only does Shane deal with being in an unfamiliar world with wild creatures running around, but Max is a serial killer. I know mind fuck right. Anyway, it seems clear that this serial killer may have more real humans inside his mind. We don’t really know how Shane or the others get here or if they can escape. But he is truly fighting for his life and the people Max is killing.
What I love about this comic so far is the layering of stories. We follow Max, clearly the more interesting of the two because hello he is inside someone’s mind. And then we jump to Max’s story which will give us all the answers of how Max came to be. Shane’s world is very sci-fi with the creatures, flying vehicles, and overall atmosphere of it all. The comic intertwines lots of styles brilliantly with the serial killer genre. Ryan K. Lindsay writes the perfect first issue capturing the reader’s attention with the first pages. Our art from Eric Zawadzki brings it all together. The way he switches from sci-fi to more magical realism in Max’s story shows how versatile the comic is already. I really just can’t wait for issue #2 to come out and may have to drunk text it this weekend.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Ryan K. Lindsay Artists: Christopher Peterson, Eric Zawadzki Coloirst: Marissa Louise, Eric Zawadzki Publisher: MonkeyBrain Comics Price: $0.99 Release Date: 2/5/14