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Posted August 1, 2018 by Flipgeeks Contributors in Comics
 
 

5 Thoughts When I Read Leviathan #1

This week, Leviathan #1 by writer John Layman and artist Nick Pitarra is hitting shelves at your nearest local comic book shops. When I read it, there were things that came up to my mind.

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1. I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON, BUT I LOVE IT

Leviathan opens with a number of different threads, crazies ranting in the street, preachers speaking of evil, dorks arguing over kaiju flicks, and a house party that’s screeched to a halt. In the 20-odd pages we get, creators John Layman and Nick Pitarra give us a lot to get excited about.

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2. BREAKING EXPECTATIONS, CRAZY POTENTIAL

There are some moments here that make you think it’s going one way (can’t be specific, but I thought, oh this might be like Cloverfield) and then it pulls in a totally different direction you didn’t expect. Layman’s Chew went into some wonderfully weird and way out there explorations, and while we don’t necessarily know where Leviathan is going to go, there’s a lot of promising weirdness by combining both the sci-fi tropes of kaiju tradition and the occult.

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3. NICK PITARRA IS INSANE

There’s a kaiju spread here that got me screaming, “What the f#%*!” because of just how amazingly executed it was. Been a fan of Pitarra for a while now, and I loved his maniacal takes on violence in stuff like The Manhattan Projects. Leviathan gives him a literally larger subject to focus on and play with. And along with the huge sequences with the monster, there’s a strong balance of character acting. One thing to notice and appreciate is the rhythm of Pitarra’s pages, they are so dense, and yet they flow.

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4. MONSTER UNLEASHED

Can’t have a kaiju thing without some large-scale destruction. It always feels odd to find glee and excitement in violence and destruction, but within the genre trappings of this text, it’s enjoyable to see how the characters as cannon fodder fare. Layman writes with a wry sense of humor and coupled with Pitarra’s art, there’s some really great comic timing in a set piece featuring characters getting offed in quick succession.

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5. MORE STOMPING, PLEASE

As I’ve been speculating in past points, I don’t know where this will go. I have hopes that the hints at more monsters come through, I hope that we get even more twisted and freaky characters joining the mix. And I haven’t gotten attached to our main characters yet, but as this goes on, I hope that this comic matches it big action with smart and endearing character work. This is exciting stuff. My eyeballs are onboard, and I hope that soon enough it’ll get on my heartstrings too.

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Reviewed by Carljoe Javier. He loves comics. He is Managing Editor of Anino Comics, writes comics and prose, and teaches at the Ateneo Department of Fine Arts. He is also the Creative Director for Smarter Good.


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