Saints #1 has a cliché plot set up and direction. You have read this plot before, and by now you are likely bored with it. Having said that, the first issue is good and a lot of fun. Monster Blaise is a man with a gift for healing and knowing the right metal band. He has also been having a recurring dream of a few people he has never met and their demise. While at a concert, Monster starts meeting these individuals. People who have gifts of their own and share the visions. This is the cliché part. They may as well have met at a bar while looking for adventure when an old man in the corner starts talking about a cryptic quest.
It is the dialogue and interactions between the characters that make this a fun read. Monster hangs out with a metal band who are hysterically “dark”. Making each other drink urine to impress a groupie, yet it is Monster showing off his “dark touch” which actually heals the lead singer’s throat (who for some reason is spitting up blood) that makes the groupie swoon.
Monster soon meets Sebastian, a man who can somehow shoot arrows because in the future he will be martyred by them (he has the scar wounds already which is also odd). Sebastian is awesome. He shoots an arrow at Monster to get his attention with the note “From your Dream Man”. And after some confusion on whether Sebastian was trying to hit on him he just casually brushes him off and says, “f***ing straight people”. Sebastian remains calm under pressure and has the best lines while looking like Fabio and Jesus had a baby, I demand a spin-off series now.
Finally there is Lucy, a cashier who doesn’t cuss, is a little randomly violent, and able to see a little into the direct future (I think). She deals with an inconsiderate, but oddly funny, jerk of a manager then meets the boys. All three quickly agree to go off on an adventure to find out what is giving them their visions.
Logically there is no reason for the three to get together and so quickly work with each other. But I don’t care, I just like seeing the three of them interact. I hope we get more of that and a little less of the visions. The visions look cool and are ominous but really don’t add too terribly much as in real story right now as it is all off in the future and left purposefully vague. Sadly the last four pages start to spell out more about the details of the origins of the visions and I can safely say they are the worst four pages of the entire book. Based on those pages I don’t care about the next issue. But based on the poppy dialogue in the rest of the issue, I can’t wait for the next issue.
The art is a style I haven’t really seen before. It is a little exaggerated in a cartoony style. The lines on people is pretty heavy, it kind of feels like the characters were velcroed onto the back drop in many of the pages. Letting them stand out more. The faces have great expressions which drew me into the characters and helps each piece of dialogue feel authentic from the character. The art is really what drew me in, the words kept me around.
All in all it was a solid first issue. It succeeded in setting up the characters and the plot. We have conflict and doom in the future, and it was a fun read. I do wish the book was all about Sebastian. Or the “dark, evil” metal band. They were super fun and the only characters who got a multi-page splash panel.
Score: 3/5
Saints #1 Writer: Sean Lewis Artist: Benjamin Mackey Publisher: Image Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 10/7/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital