The first stupefying adventure of earths slackest Hero. Contains bad language, drug abuse and nudity. Just like real life. Also contains a Pink Cadillac/Elvis impersonating cyborg. Not like real life.
Created, written, drawn and coloured by Brett Buckle with editorial and additional writing by Richmond Clements.
This new digital comic kicks off with a double size origin story – with our hero being a slacker, but one with a good moral compass (that helps) Helping those in his community and also knowing people. We get a good idea of his thoughts throughout the comic with attacks on the shady businessmen trying to put him and a local shop keeper out on the street. Things escalate though after an alien lands on earth….
The introduction of the alien makes things work out really well – with the alien learning about life on earth, while also being the catalyst to the origin of The Roach. There is a fair amount of humour here too, which I enjoyed – the most being the misunderstandings of food on earth (what animals do we eat?) We also get some good introductions to the supporting cast – including the boss and son combination of the aforementioned shady business. They obviously have links to some superpowered people, with the last act showing just that. The other heroes need a mention, with a Captain America/Superman analogue being the squeaky clean hero. He doesn’t get the reaction he thought, and that fits with the counter-culture feel of this comic. We also get the man in black – in this case possibly a FBI Agent who seems to have links to the aliens visit to earth.
I really enjoyed the art – it gives me a Mike Baron feel on his Badger run, and the style fits and suits the comic really well. Some of the panel transitions feel a little off to me, and reading some of the larger splash pages is a bit of a mission, as they don’t seem to flow right.
I really enjoyed this and I have it on good authority that the next issue is coming soon, so I recommend you check this one out.
You can find The Roach here and it is available to buy on their store, Amazon or get it digitally on DriveThruComics – I caught them at London Super Comic Con!