By Hunter T. Patrick
Yet another issue that should be widely available. This is a world where superheroes and villains exist. That is true for almost every single comic world. The difference in this comic is the fact that this does not revolve around superheroes, and it manages not to be overshadowed by their presence, at least in the first issue. In issue two we meet The Wrecking Ball. The first issue succeeded with the heroes in the background, and this issue succeeds more with Wrecking Ball front and center. The couch refers to the psychologist chair in the protagonist’s place. Having a superhero on that couch makes for a very interesting dynamic. Most of the issue is flashbacks to when Wrecking Ball was younger, before his super days.
The writing was strong last issue, and it is stronger now. The plot of mainly flashbacks presents a strong compelling, and all too relatable story. Unlike other Superhero origins, this is much more relatable. The worst part of the sequence was the fact it ended too soon and was incomplete, something that will more than likely be finished in later issues. The story is captivating and took a nice change of pace after the first issue. It helped compliment what came before. After most of the issue was the flashback were the last few pages returning to the regular world, and it felt noticeably weak compared to the start. It was moving the story forward instead of introducing character which was needed for any story and had an always lovely ethical dilemma.
The art looked wonderful, especially in the flashback scenes. The art purposely showcased different proportions in size in a very tragic manner. This is an obvious thing that might frustrate some readers for some unrealistic sizes, but it is realistic for some people are naturally bigger than others and everything is done for the story. Pain is shown gracefully and full of despair in the artwork. The artwork has never been as strong in the flashback then what came afterwards and the first issue. Improvement is what is needed for every single series and that is something that this series luckily shows (not to say what came before was bad). Things can be shown disproportionate in this series and it never has looked stronger and with more purpose.
It is a shame this series is not being published by Image when it is better than several Image titles. A big shame is being Indie and not being more mainstream, but with this issue being as strong as it is, that gives strong hope that it will one day reach an audience, or at least lead to bigger and better things for the creative team. This comic has the start of one of the greatest origin stories shown in a long time in comics and it is exciting going forward to see where the comic goes. This comic is not just recommended for readers, but also for retailers to sell and push for new worlds to open up.
Score: 4/5
The Couch #2
Self-Published