Here’s the cool thing about Tales to Admonish #3, it’s the first issue of the series that I’ve read but it invited me in as a new reader. You may recall Erik’s reviews for the first and second issue, but again this was my first exposure to the series. I didn’t know what to expect outside of Erik’s glowing reviews so I just dived in. Comics in my opinion are the only form of entertainment that you can just dive into like that for better or worse. There’s no synopsis on the cover, there’s no genre listing like with music. It’s the great thing about comic books. There are two stories in this issue and let me tell you the first story blew me away. I clung to every word, every bit of dialogue and soaked in every panel. The story follows World War I pilot Wilks Wilkinson as he shoots at a Goddess. That’s right he shoots at a God and then flies his plan right into a German Zeppelin. His plane gets stuck there as he’s baffled by the fact that he saw a God/Goddess… and shot at her. The Germans shoot at him, but they’re a terrible shot considering they’re high in the air and shooting at a plane stuck in their Zeppelin. What’s more shocking is that the Goddess is hanging from the bottom of Wilkinson’s plane.
I don’t want to spoil any more than that for you, but this was hands down one of the best short stories I’ve read in a comic ever. I kid you not. I couldn’t stop thinking about how damn good the story was. The pacing, the story and more so the situation. A plane stuck in the side of a zeppelin that’s now slowing sinking and a Goddess of lore having a conversation with the pilot while the German’s look on. I hooked me quick.
If I understand correctly Matt Kyme illustrates the entire issue, but for the first story he uses greyscale and for the second story he keeps it just black and white. Now I wouldn’t say that Kyme has won my heart as an artist just yet. He’s a bit rough around the edges and has room to grow, but then that could be said about most of my favorite artists. He does a solid courting of my heart with both stories though.
Obviously I enjoyed the first tale a lot, but it’s the panels that didn’t have any words or have anything to do with dialogue that I enjoyed the most. When the Goddess is hanging from the bottom of the plane asking for help Wilkinson looks down at her chest. It’s a very male thing to do, but he is in the presence of a Goddess wearing nothing but a silky Greeky one piece. It’s like a dress with a piece of rope tied around the waist. He doesn’t saying anything; it’s just this quick glance that Kyme offers the reader. There’s this strange chemistry between the two characters that reminded me a lot of Out of Sight in that two people unfamiliar with each other suddenly find themselves attracted to each other after a moment of meeting. Kyme is that chemistry for sure.
In the second story which I’m going to skip talking about since I’ve rambled too much already, I’m pretty sure a classic Fantastic Four piece of hardware makes an appearance. I don’t want to spoil what it is, but it totally is. It gave me far more joy than I expected and also showed me that nothing cool has been done with the FF since then.
I have to admit that I was honestly surprised by the quality of this issue; the quality of the writing, the art and just the end product in general. This book is at home next to any monthly comic out on the shelves of your local shop and I will never doubt it again. They made a reader out of me that’s for sure and now I’m going to have to go back and read the first two issues as well.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Andrez Bergen Artist: Matt Kyme Publisher: IF? Commix Price: $5.00 Release Date: August, 2014 Website