Turnbull, Jack – Apollo Astro #4

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Apollo Astro #4

It’s really odd to go from reading the new Mr. Show book right into a serious tale (sort of) about high, school, but I’ll give it a shot. High school stories are a dime a dozen, granted, and it takes a little something to make one stand out. This one’s good enough to qualify. It’s the story of Harry Pearson, a sophomore who makes robots and has a huge crush on a girl who’s dating a cartoonist. Already different from the norm, because the vast majority of these stories are written from the perspective of the cartoonist. I like a lot of little things about this comic. The way he programs his robots to call him master, the fact that the girl he likes is as much of an asshole as the the guy she’s dating, the radio interviewer making fun of him afterwards. Pretty much everything works here. As far as the art goes, it’s hard not to compare him with Alex Robinson, both in look and in the general tone of his stories. I don’t know if he’s read Alex’s stuff, but the art is eerily similar. Anyway, well worth a look, and I’d like to see how he does shorter stories. Lucky for me, he has other issues in print… Send him an e-mail to see what else he has around.