Clandestino #1 is a book you need to pick up right away. I normally save my recommendation for the end of the review, but this book warrants it right up front. Black Mask Studios has been doing some incredible work as of late, and taking the kind of risks that even other indie publishers aren’t. What we get in this first issue is part political thriller, part action movie, and part real world take on the sort of geopolitical conflicts that the world sees from time to time.
Amancay Nahuelpan is on art a writing duties on this one, and the book is amazing for it. It’s always hard for a single person to handle the amount of work involved in a new book, but they other a unique take on the creation process as what you see on the page tends to be the exact vision they had in their head. The art is dark and gritty, yet full of vibrant colors that bring the country the book takes place in feel alive. The line work is crisp and sharp and gives all the characters a distinct look.
The story itself crams a lot of information into a single issue, and while it is peppered with an amazing breadth of information via news clippings and other tidbits strewn throughout, but the main story can at times feel a bit loose and jumbled at times. Our protagonist is the man of few words type, and while that is cool, it tends to form a sort of disconnect this early on in the adventure. The book is constantly jumping back from the present to various parts of the past, both focusing on how our hero came to be and how the country fell into the hands of the military.
All the pieces are there for an amazing tale, but I do feel as if it was all crammed a little too tight. The book could have benefited with a little more breathing room, especially as our hero speaks very little. He’s cool, sure, and we do get a nice deal of internal dialogue laying somethings out, but Clandestino #1 still feels like it should have been two books. I would have like to seen how this country came to be as our hero and rebel friends fight against this new government, and another after that, that goes into flashbacks about his past.
Still, what we are given a akin to a puzzle box. We have the basic idea of what’s going on in the larger world, but we are yet to have all the pieces to unlock the bigger mysterious allowing us access to said box. Clandestino #1 looks amazing as the art beautifully flows from panel to panel between pages, and is a lot of fun to read through. It’s not a perfect first issue, but it does enough to stand on its own in a crowded market and sets up what looks to be an exciting next issue.
About Author
