Friday, May 18, 2007

Left on Mission #1 - A Review


Writer: Chip Mosher Artist : Francesco Francavilla
Premise - A recently retired covert operative is called back into service. He has to leave her his wife and child for one more mission. Another agent has gone rogue and is selling secrets to our enemies. The other agent is his former lover and partner. Check out the link for a preview http://www.boom-studios.com/leftonmission/LOM/index.html

What I liked:
1) The artwork. A really nice job. The art reflect the mood of the story very well, a nice sense of realism (a more cartoony style would have been wrong and a super-hero style would not have worked). Terrific pacing, the change up in the layouts was great. Multiple panels, multiple layouts, single panels, each page fit the story.
2) The story. It has the feeling of a movie script, but if it is, it has been ably adapted to the comic book format. For a first issue in a five issue mini-series the book really pulled me in and made me look forward to the next issue.

What I didn't like:
1) I wanted a little more background on the main guy so that the impending conflict that he will have dealing with a former love and being currently married would have more weight. I understand this maybe resolved in future issues and getting to the story is important in a first issue, but one page one more page on backstory I think in issue number one would have been good.

Grade B

4 comments:

  1. Jim -

    Glad you liked the book. I really tried hard to make sure that the first issue MOVED. Francesco did an fantastic job on the art. I can't wait till you see some of the stuff he has done in issue 2 and 3.

    I understand your comment about Eric's background, but that was a choice I made to give the book a certain pacing and mood. This was originally conceived as a comic, but I definitely was going for a filmic feel.

    Thanks again for reading,

    Chip
    Writer/Creator
    LEFT ON MISSION
    www.leftonmission.com

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  2. Chip - I really did enjoy it, I would have given it an "A" (since I never do pluses), but I reserve that once the whole story unfolds for a mini-series.

    This looks to be a great ride. Who controled the page layout you or the artist?

    Can't wait for the next chapter.

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  3. I wrote it full script and definitely had a certain pace in mind. That said, Francesco Francavilla brought what I wrote to the next level. And as a writer, that is exactly what I want when working with an artist. Barring the fact that it is "my" book - I think it just looks great. You can't beat Francesco - and then add a talent like Martin Thomas' on colors...just gorgeous. I couldn't be happier with how my words were translated into the final product.

    I am eager to hear what you think of the next issue...it's a bit different. And I will leave it at that.

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  4. Chip - I won't have long to wait as issue #2 is out this coming Wednesday.

    I failed to mention the colorist and you're right he added a lot.

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