Franz, Sophie – The Experts #1

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The Experts #1

If there was an emoticon for a repulsed shudder, I think I’d leave that as the review for this comic. But that would be lazy, and my thoughts on it are a bit more complicated than that. And really, it would be be hard to look at that cover and not come away with that impression. As for the comic, this is either the first issue in a series or an act of cruelty, as it’s mostly questions with very few answers. We see things from the perspective of one of those creatures on the very first page, as it’s look at a dog on a pier. The dog seems calm enough until the creature makes a gesture, at which point it starts freaking out and scares the creature away. From there we meet the three inhabitants (outside of the dog) of what appears to be an underwater science facility of some kind. I don’t think that’s ever explicitly stated, it’s just the impression I came away with. See, mysteries everywhere. Anyway, Frankie has the head of a fish, Cheron recently had a finger bitten off by one of those creatures (and is dealing with the side effects of it), and an unnamed redhead. They’re researchers of some kind but have been without contact from any kind of leadership for a long time. They’re also starting to question what they’re doing there and dealing with odd lapses in memory. An incident towards the end of the book changes the fundamental dynamic, things change even further, and yeah I’m leaving all that vague on purpose. It’s intriguing, that’s for sure, and I very much look forward to finding some answers to all the questions that were raised in this issue. Unless this is the only issue that’s planned which, again, would be cruel. Those creatures are creepy on a visceral level, but they seem to make every effort to be friendly. At least outwardly. Agh, clearly this one is going to be in my head for a bit. Hard to think of a better recommendation than that. $5