Liberator Issue #1 Review

     From the mind of Matt Miner and publisher Black Mask Studios (Occupy Comics, 12 Reason to Die) comes issue #1 of "Liberator". I recently sat down with the book to check it out. What I found left me sitting with mixed emotions but I will get to that in a little bit. First let me talk about the team behind the book...
     Out of the gate comes the aforementioned Matt Miner. Mr. Miner is the writer/creator of Liberator. Mr. Miner is also a self described "dedicated dog rescuer". Familiar with Scott Snyder of American Vampire and Batman fame? Well guess what, Matt Miner has understudied with Mr. Snyder...a damn fine person to learn from for sure!
     Pencils and Inks on Liberator are by Javier Sanchez Aranda. His style is a nice fit for the tone of the book. It's tough and street level grittiness bring Miner's world onto the pages effectively. This isn't a capes and power rings world here. It's a real world with real people. It's a dirty and ugly place where ugly things happen. Javier absolutely handles his job and then some. There is one sequence in particular that left me feeling really uncomfortable after I read it. It's not exploitative but to be honest it's the one page of the book that really sold it for me. If you read it and this page doesn't strike a chord with you...then you got some issues my friend.
     Colors are provided by Joaquin Pereyra. Like I said this isn't a bright and shiny world here and Pereyra continues setting that tone. The tones are dirty and dank. If I could compare it to anything I would say it has the tone of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original). Not a literal comparison but it captures that atmosphere of despair and uncomfortableness.  His colors are another piece of the creative puzzle that slips perfectly into place.
     The Letterer and Editor of Liberator are one and the same. Vito Delsante is your man here. He keeps the script a going without obscuring the artwork. Cheers sir. As always here at the Doodlebook no part of the creative team is unimportant! Shame on those who fail to give credit to the whole team...writers and pencilers a comic do not make!!!!!!!!!!!
     Now that I have intro'd the creative team let's talk about the book. Mr. Miner I have a confession to make. When I first glanced through the book I wasn't a fan. I thought to myself "oh boy, here's a book that's not gonna be too enjoyable..." I thought it was gonna be preachy and come off just silly. Mr. Miner I offer up my apologies and I stand corrected. I sat down and I read Liberator and I processed it overnight. I thought about what I had read and how uncomfortable it made me and that it made me a little angry even.
     Liberator issue one introduces to a world that we may not think about. A world that if we see it on television we may hit the channel button with haste. It's not a far off planet, or a sprawling metropolis where heroes fly and good triumphs over evil. Liberator exists in our world. Where heroes are regular people "and sometimes evil is simply doing nothing in the face of an atrocity." What atrocity? Like I spoke of before Matt Miner is a dog rescuer, a man with the heart and courage to help out where others (like myself) change the channel or turn their heads. It's also a really good comic book with some kick ass artwork. It also has a cover by Tim Seeley and Rod Reis!  Not that it needs it but that an added bonus. This is the comic book equivalent of Heavy Metal music. It's nasty and dark and it's tough.
     -Matt Miner is also donating ALL of his share of the profits to dog rescue work. Cheers Matt.
     -Liberator Issue #1 is being released on June 19th 2013.
     -Wanna know more about Matt Miner? Go to mattminer.net or facebook.com/mattminercomics or find him on Twitter at @MattMinerXVX
     -Interested in Black Mask Studios? Hit 'em up

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