This is Jonathan Hickman’s debut comic, the one that put him on the map and at the center of attention. It’s a comic with highly graphic designs, but it also tells a very socially charged story about the power of the media.
Hickman’s designs are very different from a traditional comic book, but they look beautiful at first glance. Once I started reading it I had to adjust to its pace and design. The pages are filled with little text boxes that may or may not have to do with the dialog between characters. They simply present more information about certain characters or entities in general. They almost feel like extras.
Other times there is a lot of exposition, where characters have very long balloons (rectangular ones) that start from the top and end at the bottom of the page. It’s just a different way to approach the storytelling.
But the story is compelling enough that I quickly adapted to it and moved along. I like the revelation at the end, which makes the whole story very different from what I thought at first.
I can’t say I was totally blown away like others, but I did like this book.