I’m not really sure what to expect from this series anymore. It’s put together well with a solid narrative, characters that have some depth and artwork that is… well it’s Tyler Jenkins, it’s fucking good artwork. I’m just not in love with the story. I don’t hate it by any means, but it doesn’t get me excited and I think I should be feeling that special spark by now. Instead I’m like, “yup that was a solid comic reading experience.” But if I wanted a solid reading experience without feeling anything for the material I could pick up any DC or Marvel comic. It’s almost as if the story is as stuck as its main character. We have this wonderful premise of an imaginary friend taking drugs to stay in the real world and on top of that his imagination has created a family. Saying just that is interesting, but when you read the comic it’s grounded heavily in reality and yet the artwork creates beautiful and strange artwork to go with it. It’s almost as if Neverboy’s desire to have a normal life makes the story boring.
Add in the Painter that will surely cause a lot of chaos as he enters the diner that he’s forbidden to enter and really I’m just not there with it. I haven’t liked the Painter and I while I know he’s the catalyst waiting to happen, I don’t particularly care what he does or effects. How he’s able to score a backseat filled with drugs when he can’t even pay his rent is just beyond me. That and something that’s started to wear on me is the fact that the taking of the drugs don’t have an effect on Neverboy. It just keeps his family around and his hair brown. It would be interesting to see consequences to taking the drugs on top of it being the only way to keep his family.
Again though, everything is very competent about this story. The dialogue is believable. Hell even the characters actions in this unbelievable world are believable. There’s nothing I would describe as bad about the story, but there’s nothing that I can say is particularly great. Sure Jenkin’s artwork is good and you can see him growing as an artist, but it’s just not enough to elevate this story. In fact I’m beginning to see a real disconnect between the writing and the art.
I’ll definitely read the next issue, but I don’t know if I’m going to review the series any more. There’s not enough to talk about and really ever since the first issue this series has had me riding the fence trying to decide if I even wanted to continue reading it or not. If something happens in the next issue you’ll see a review otherwise I’m going to give this series one more issue as a reader before I call it quits.
Score: 3/5
Neverboy #3 Writer: Shaun Simon Artist: Tyler Jenkins Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/6/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital