I had only a vague idea of what Numbercruncher would be about before reviewing it which was about a mathematician defying death also known as the divine calculator so he could be reincarnated to be with his true love. Yeah, that sounds like something I would totally be into, so sign me up. I was thoroughly impressed with Si Spurrier’s storytelling and how well the characters narrated. The usage of a Cockney accent for our narrator just added so much character and dry sarcasm to the story. So our main character Richard Thyme a young and absolutely brilliant mathematician dies and makes a deal to be reincarnated so that he may be with his love. Ah love, makes you live a thousand lives over and over to get maybe a five minute hug. Thyme breaks the code that holds the systematic Karmic Accountancy together. Though the plot may seem worlds beyond us, it’s actually a really humanizing story. Thyme grapples with his own selfish desires to have more time with his beloved Jessica while having an existential crisis and realizing that all that he has done has caused her pain.
The only reservation I have about Numbercruncher is that in some of the caption boxes with black font makes it really hard to read in the existential chaos especially the black and white scenes with a lot of details and cross stitching. I mean I love the details and whirlwind of numerical encoding, it’s just difficult to read font in that and I’d like to think I have decent vision so I swear it’s probably not that. It was just a bit of visual overload for me. That’s not to say the art wasn’t good though because PJ Holden’s illustrations created a nice harmonic balance with the story. And I did like that there was a separation in the different worlds in regards to color; Jordie Bellaire does this expertly so.
Besides the one critique I have about it, Numbercruncher has some really amazing elements to it and I dig the play on mathematics and binary. I am a bit of a statistics geek so I really enjoyed that. I would definitely recommend Numbercruncher.
Score: 4/5
Author: Si Spurrier Artist: PJ Holden Publisher: Titan Comics Price: $19.99 Release Date: 1/15/14