Jumping-On: "The Auteur" (Oni Press)

- by Señor Editor, 18 April 2014

Happy Easter! Unfortunately, we don’t have any Easter-related content for you today. I was considering writing about Avatar Press’ “God is Dead”, but I don’t really read it much. Instead, I will tell you about why you should get on board ONI Press’ “The Auteur”, one of the most interesting comics in recent months.

Cover of #1. Click to enlarge.

“The Auteur” is a new-ish ongoing series written by Rick Spears, with art by James Callahan and colors by Luigi Anderson. It’s about a popular movie producer named Nathan T. Rex, whose career took a bad turn after his latest movie, “Cosmos”, became a massive flop. Nathan is a pretty despicable human being – he could be easily described as an over the top parody of a Hollywood mogul, but there’s more to him. After “Cosmos” he’s not in the best standing with the studios, so he really needs to get his career on the right track again. He needs to come up with something good, but he just stumble on the idea that would save his career. He needs a vision.

And that’s actually how we first meet T. Rex: tripping on some hallucinogens at some Hollywood charlatan “guru’s” office. The whole first issue is spent talking about the producer’s problems and with him trying to conjure up some vision of what he has to do create.

Eventually, he comes up with the solution to all his problems. The movie he’s working on, “President's Day” (a slasher horror with the villain killing people with an axe while wearing a Lincoln mask), will only become a success if he can get himself a consultant, somebody who will add legitimacy to the movie. Somebody like the mass murderer known as Darwin, who is currently awaiting trial. The only problem is getting him out of the prison.

Nathan, hallucinating what his next movie will be about. All images here are © Oni Press.

Anyway, this is the basic premise, but the book has A LOT going for it and there’s plenty more happening on the pages. “The Auteur” could be easily dismissed as a satire on the world of Hollywood, if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s so much more. It’s a bloody (literally) interesting comic and it’s impossible to predict what happens next. Big part of what makes this comic so damn good is the character of Nathan T. Rex.

Nathan adapts easily to any situation he finds himself in.

It’s been a while since a comic got a good few genuine laughs out of me, and “The Auteur” delivers some pretty fantastic, original funny moments. T. Rex isn’t just a movie producer stereotype. He’s the right mix of eccentric, deranged and he has all the pizzazz he needs to win you (and everybody he comes in contact with) over. He is an egomaniac and he will do whatever is necessary to get his time to shine, which results in some very funny and odd situations.

Darwin, the psychopathic killer with an X-shaped scar on his face, is also a pretty amusing character, even though he’s shown doing some ridiculously brutal things (the comic is made for a “mature” audience). He sees T. Rex and everybody else as mutilated stacks of meat, and he’s far from well socially-adjusted. The delusional maniac of a producer, and the insane mass-murderer make a highly-amusing odd couple.

Nathan meets Darwin.

As you can probably gather by now, I am really enjoying Spears’ writing on the book, but there’s also something to be said about the art team. Callahan’s style suits the book perfectly, and he’s just as good at portraying Nathan’s visions, Darwin’s kills as he is drawing the more “mundane” scenes. His art also complements the comedy of the book nicely – the facial expressions he gives the characters are one of the things that help make this such a funny book. 

Callahan’s art probably wouldn’t look so great though without Anderson’s coloring. The pages look striking, crisp and juicy, really adding to the comic’s style.

TESTICLE SLIP.

This is one of the most entertaining comics on stands right now. It’s unique, funny and if you’re not squeamish, then you will find plenty to like in it. Issue #2 just came out this week, so if you haven’t been following it it’s still a good time to jump right in. This is apparently just the first volume, which gives me hope that “The Auteur” will become an ongoing series. Good. We need more comics like this.


Have you read "The Auteur"? Planning to give it a go? Leave us a comment!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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