Perhapanauts Annual #1 - A Review

Well, shoot! This is yet another one of those posts that got lost in the shuffle and wound-up late. The Perhapanauts Annual #1 was sent to me well in advance of the release date (last Wednesday) and I read it through once and started this review, but never finished it and then I got sick and just never got back to it.

I'd like to apologize to all the guys at Image, as well as Todd and Craig, the creators, but everything's been a bit jumbled this month, what with taxes and everything else. Anyway, as Jamie Lynn Spears well-knows, better late than never:

Perhapanauts is a paranormal investigation outfit made up of far more than your average, wise-cracking, trenchcoat-clad detectives. A ghost, some psychics, a Bigfoot, a dimension-jumping technological mastermind, and a Chupacabra make up the group known as the Perhapanauts, whose job is to travel the globe, hunting down creatures from other dimensions and closing those dimensional doors behind them.

Perhapanauts doesn't just coast on the originality of its premise, even though there's a lot of material to be had from it, but a lot of the Annual is given over to exposition and introduction. The exposition does get tedious, but it's well-handled. I only hope the monthly series doesn't keep it up; it works for the Annual (which relaunches the monthly title), but I will be disappointed if the team takes the 1980's Marvel approach of restating the backstory every issue (Matt Murdock's origin was rehashed literally every issue until 1992 or so).

I don't want to give away too much, but the story features none other than the Jersey Devil, itself! Perhapanauts Annual #1 is a great read and well-worth the time - not just for introducing the team and their objectives - it's a fun romp which foreshadows angles I am sure will be explored in the series, but still a great one-off that can be enjoyed as-is. The dialogue is clunky at times, but I blame that on the expository nature of the story because the writing itself is fine - it's the information-dumps in the exchanges that can be jarring.

Like its central outfit's make-up, Perhapanauts doesn't follow the typical paranormal investigative formula or genre "style" - and this story has been done enough that it has become its own genre, especially since these stories so often cross genres that even that has lost its "uniqueness" (the semi-dramatic story with heavy horror elements and liberal comic relief, including the occasional outright, tongue-in-cheek installment). It is firmly-rooted in sci-fi with horror overtones, but it isn't heavy-handed drama. The humor is more personality-driven than situational, which shows that Dezago knows how to keep one eye on the story, one eye on the plot, and still develop the characters... which may make him a cockeyed writer with an extra eyeball, but we all have our faults.

Artistically, Perhapanauts Annual #1 is a phenomenal example of sequential art, as true to the form as any title or issue I've seen in a long time! From the interior cover splash (headshots of the characters) through the paneled pages, it is active and forward-moving while eschewing the overly-complicated, noisome, and copiously cross-hatched photorealism and crazy panelwork you see in most of Image's flagship titles. The artwork is cartoonish yet detailed without going overboard, its simplicity belying Rousseau's close observational skills. After all, you have to know your stuff to draw a believable fight scene between a Bigfoot and the Jersey Devil - with a Chupacabra in the mix, to boot! This is some killer artwork and even if it had been written by John fricking Saul, I would recommend this outing for the pencils and inks alone.

Between the writing and art, the only other criticism I have is the word balloons. Not only is the placement erratic (though easy to follow), they're just plain ugly! They aren't glaringly distracting, but they do detract from the overall product - especially if you pull far enough away that you can't read the words and see them as just another element of the design.

I honestly didn't know what to expect going in, thinking it was either going to be over-the-top goofy or simply mundane, but I was so overwhelmed by the art that I took my time to get into it and by the end of the issue, Dezago had developed the characters so well that I felt like I knew them, and had forwarded the backstory so much that I really want to know what's coming next! Really great job, even though it called for a few clunkers along the way. I dug this so much, I already added it to my monthly pull-list.

SO sorry this review got in past the deadline, but things happen. Luckily, it means that you don't have to wait for Perhapanauts Annual #1 - it's on shelves now!

Highly recommended!

© C Harris Lynn, 2008