Contract #0

This review paraphrased from Review at Geeks of Doom: If you mix Serenity and Lobo, I think you might come up with something that resembles Contract. Set in the future, Contract tells the story of a team of bounty hunters and their criminal-catching exploits. Issue zero offers two stories — one complete story and one with a cliffhanger — written by Garan Maderios and drawn by Dave Ross and Kevin Sharpe that make an entertaining read. Maderios’ writing is snappy and energetic and I was interested by both stories throughout. The only real issue I had with the book was the art. The art for the first story was decent, but Ross’ art did not fit with the overall tone of the story. The second story drawn by Sharpe is far superior to the first story. The art and the story just clicks, each bringing the best out of the other. I will definitely pick up the first issue but in the long run, I think Contract would gain more success with an artist that resembles Sharpe’s style.

This review is from: http://www.uberwillowtara.com/heroineaddict/issues080521.html

Contract #1 & #2 ~ Okay, bottom line: buy this book. I’m not just saying that because I got to read it for free (hey, I’m still paying for my copies when they ship), but seriously, I have rarely had as much fun per page as I have with Contract. I don’t want to suggest that it’s ‘comedy’, because that pigeon-holes books into a played-for-laughs category – rather, it’s funny the way The Fifth Element or Indiana Jones is funny (Crystal Skull didn’t disappoint in that regard). The plot and characters are real and serious, but they often wind up in amusing places, and the dialogue sparkles with witty banter between Jessie, Tsumi, and Panzer, the latter’s heavily-accented lines often being laugh-out-loud entertaining. The art is energetic and action-oriented, but with a playful edge that works well in the lighter moments. As sci-fi the story has a kind of pulp flair to it – it’s intelligent and consistent, but it has a larger-than-life quality that makes anything possible around the next corner (Fifth Element comes to mind again, with its novel designs and concepts). It’s like The Princess Bride meets Blade Runner – a grim, tough future, seen through the lens of vivacious, entertaining characters with lashings of finely-crafted dialogue. And I bet you never thought you’d see those two movies cited at the same time. I’ll be reviewing Contract in more detail, plotwise, when it ships, but for now: if you like exciting action/comedy, head down to your local comic shop and tell them to get this in for you.

At first, I thought I wasn’t going to like this comic – it seemed to be an all-too obvious homage to Firefly / Serenity (wild west in space), crossed with warmed-over 1980s cyberpunk (the big crew cut enforcer on designer steroids, corporate espionage, etc.).

The thing is – despite the somewhat derivative inspiration, the book has decent writing, and a good sense of humor (pay attention for the sly Conan reference halfway through)!

I’ll read more.

Heres another Review, this time on Newsarama: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/0806…ots080609.html

CONTRACT #0 Story by Garan Madeiros and Charlie Shell Art by Dave Ross, Sal Velluto, Kevin Sharpe, Ariel Padilla, and Mark McKenna Published by First Salvo

When I first even heard about this book, it was on my comic shop’s list of titles for the upcoming week. I feel it’s important, nay, almost an OBLIGATION to at least check out some independent titles on occasion. You don’t want to be that sucker that’s missing out on a great read just because it doesn’t have the press machine that Marvel or DC has.

To quote the Diamond’s May Previews: “In a capitalist world’s dark future, Mercenary is no longer just a soldier for hire. It’s a way of life. Law is enforced by cyber-powered Mercs and life or death is decided by the lowest bidder. There is no right or wrong beyond the price in hard currency. Jessie Garrett, however, is everything most Mercs are not: honest, selfless and determined to bring order to greed-hardened worlds, driven mad by money. But when a corporate kidnapping goes wrong, Jessie, and fellow Mercs, Panzer and Tsumi, get in over their heads.”

Now, just reading that I had a flashback to 9th grade games of Rifts after school. Also, the main character, Jessie, looks like an amalgamation between Marshall Bravestarr and Judge J.B. McBride, but I think that’s just me. The story is pretty solid. Madeiros and Shell don’t just have a script, they have a world. It’s not as bizarre as the Marvel 2099 future, but outlandish and entertaining enough to have kept me interested to where I wonder what will happen next. It’s seriously a fun read, sort of what “Battle Chasers” was, only in a cyber-western environment. One complaint though, similar to what Robert Jordan did with his epic Wheel of Time series, I would include a glossary in the front or back to explain some of the terminology. Just like how I wish Peter David had included one on his “Dark Tower” series.

A plethora of artists worked together, though the one that stood out for me was Kevin Sharpe. His style is almost J. Scott Campbell meets Adam Hughes. I would love to see this guy become just as popular as the forementioned artists. Any fan of such shows like “Firefly” or the mutually short-lived “Bionic Woman” would love to get a hold of these issues when they hit shelves. Though that itself can be problematic. A lot of big chain stores don’t order independent books like this unless it has huge press behind it. Or possibly is about to made into a movie…or some ordeal like that. So more than likely you are going to have to ask for this (I had to at my girlfriend’s shop) so it CAN fill the shelves. Okay, so maybe not fill the shelves…that would mean nobody is buying it. You get the gist though. Now, the company knows you are taking a risk on an unknown, independent comic so Contract #0 will only cost you a mere $0.25! So, if you’ve got the time, and the spare quarter, check this title out. What do you have to lose?

—So you know, the first issue will have a glossary of sorts.

I’m glad that those ‘southern accents’ weren’t permanent because that would have been cliche (and too reminiscent of Firefly). Instead I was pleasantly surprised by the characters and the artwork was very fitting (I can’t wait to see these characters in color in the next issue). The only thing that worries me is that Contract has already started with the over-endowed female pin-up shots, so I really hope that this isn’t a continuing theme.