Comics Review: "Pisces" #1

- by Ninja Ross, 6 May 2015

I knew it was very unlikely that Pisces would be about fish, but I checked the comic out anyway. What we have instead is a sci fi horror comic written by Kurtis J Wiebe with art provided by Johnnie Christmas. But can that REALLY be as good as fish?

Cover by Johnnie Christmas.

"Pisces" actually follows Dillon Carpenter, a former fighter pilot, during his life during and after the Vietnam war. And, from the very start, things don’t seem to be going too well.

We’re introduced to Carpenter at a hospital, where he shows up to the birth of his son. Not only is he late to this event, he also shows up covered in cuts and bandages and a little bit drunk. This is obviously not a rare thing, as a friend by the name of Samuel takes Carpenter’s appearance quite badly. He beats the crap out of him, basically.

And then there’s an excellent looking trippy two page spread of Carpenter floating around in space. This is followed by a flashback to the war, just after a plane crash leaves Carpenter and his fellow soldier Henry stranded in the jungle.

This flashback takes up the majority of this debut issue. It quickly goes from two guys bonding in a jungle to a messy revenge outing, with Carpenter avenging the torture and murder of his comrade. And it does get violent! We have knives going through necks and everything!

Carpenter's not a fan of watching friends get stabbed in the face

This debut issue doesn’t exactly rush to explain everything. While most first issues might try to cram as much explanation in as possible, Wiebe takes his time here. He hooks you with an interesting opening scene and then keeps things focused on character development.

Wiebe is using Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to help build a character and tell a story, which makes the brief sci fi horror elements all the more intriguing. It’s not an element that’s over played, either.

It’s not all Vietnam and hospitals. As I mentioned, we have sci fi in here, too, with space popping up seemingly out of nowhere every so often. It’s not out of place at all, in fact it only adds to the mystery and intrigue! What’s up with space?!? It’s on the cover, so it’s CLEARLY a big thing.

The kind of surreal vibe mixed with PTSD and mystery is very similar to the 1990 movie Jacob’s Ladder, directed by Adrian Lyne. While there are no demons or house parties, the themes are very similar. Thankfully, it’s not so similar that it feels the same; "Pisces" is still a very unique book.

Space! There's a lot of it!

But comics also have pictures! And Johnnie Christmas does an incredible job of making this comic one of the best looking books around.

Christmas’s style is pretty detailed and each character is full of emotion and movement. It’s also gritty and dark where it needs to be, but during the more surreal scenes, it’s still bright and imaginative.

But as great as his art looks, the one thing that’ll really stick with you is this image of a happy man pooping.

Happy Pooping!

That’s a real happy guy. SPOILER: he doesn't stay happy.

Tamra Bonvillain’s colours help complete the comic’s look, thanks to her use of more than just brown and black (as is the case with a lot of comic books!). While there are plenty of darker, grimy colours in there, she also gives us plenty of brighter colours that help contrast the darkness and make things feel a  bit more real and interesting. As creepy as it sounds, the blood is especially nice looking.

"Pisces" may not feature fish (here’s hoping they show up in future issues!), but it’s an incredibly cool, interesting new comic that beats the majority of comic books YOU are currently reading.


Have you picked up your copy of Pisces, yet? Let us know in the comments below!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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