Grafix Chronicles has a silver age feel to it. With that said there are some people like myself that never really got into silver age or golden age comics for that matter. In fact, as much as I appreciate the past eras of comics books I have a hard time reading them. It was much to my surprise that I actually enjoyed Grafix Chronicles for all the reasons that gave it an old school vibe. A huge reason I dub this more old school than anything is that there are thought bubbles. In fact there are no narrative captions, but instead thought bubbles reign supreme. Now I know that this is mostly a terrible story device and that when people have attempted to bring it back it usually reminds everyone why the industry stopped using it, but the entire team nails it in the issue. I was never once annoyed and I guess it just goes to show that if you do it right it does work effectively.

The issue is broken up into three different stories, the first being “The Man Under the Microscope!” The story follows a science team that has found a new way to study things once reserved for the microscope… shrinking. The lead on the project arrives to work for the big day, but once he’s shrunken down he encounters a life form that communicates via telepathy. The twist to the story is very cool and in a way reminded me of The Outer Limits. Writer Jonathan A. Gilbert tells a fun and creative story that I was entertained by and David Owens illustrates some great panels.

Since there are only three stories I’m going to jump to the last story which is called “Don’t Touch Me.” This actually ended up being my favorite due to it have the most Outer Limit/Twilight Zone feel to it. The story follows a well-dressed man as he walks down the street and homeless people constantly ask him for money. That’s all I’m going to tell you about it, but the twist was great. This was also my favorite art of the issue as well. Ron Stewart wrote the story and did the art, while Ron Fortier scripted the story. It’s short and sweet, but again very entertaining.

I was really impressed with this issue and wish that I had gotten around to it sooner. It’s a very pure comic book read. It’s sticks with fantasy and sci-fi and doesn’t let reality seep in. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that’s looking for a classic style of comic, but also to anyone that enjoys clever twists to their stories. I really liked all three tales and their different twists. This issue is definitely appropriate for all ages and may even be a great issue to give a first time comic reader.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Jonathan A. Gilbert, Ron Stewart, Ron Fortier Artists: David Owens, David A. Vance, Ron Stewart Publisher: Will Lill Comics Price: $2.50 – print, $.99 – digital Release Date: October 2013 Website