Saxon's Second-Handed Books #1

Saxon’s Second-Hand Books #1

Mad Robot Comics 2021

Written by Ash Deadman

Illustrated by Gustaffo Vargas

Lettered by Rob Jones

Donald Arthur Saxon operates a second-hand bookshop in an "up and coming" area of London in the 1870s. He doesn't sell many books, but he has a nice side-line solving supernatural mysteries. Thanks to a secret he is keeping, he has an unmatched insight into the paranormal.

This was a Kickstarter that I supported. All it took was one look at the campaign and I knew I had to be a part of it. When the book came I read it for the first time I knew I’d made a smart choice in backing this. This introductory issue really sets the tone for the series beautifully and it does this amazing job of showing us who Donald Arthur Saxon is, what he’s about and not necessarily giving away his secret but makes the reader question and wonder what that’s about. It also kind of guarantees that you’ll want to come back to learn more about that. Plus the book is solid, it’s well written and has some absolutely killer interiors so that they go along with the whole era that is set in it generates the right amount of interest, intrigue and excitement factors.

I absolutely love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. I love how we see the characterisation and how in the time period we see the speech patterns it’s really rather quite effective. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, introducing the characters and this world they live in makes you want to stay for an extended visit.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge, grow and strengthen are magnificently rendered. I love seeing the layers and how they open up the avenues for exploration and while some will be explored others won’t be, regardless, they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

I am blown away by the level of quality work in the interiors. First of all kudos on the way we see the prolific use of backgrounds and they aren’t just utilised but they are as detailed as everything else is a huge bonus to me. They enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The linework is clean, crisp and strong with the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this phenomenal detail work throughout the book enhances the reading experience exponentially. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a brilliant eye for how colour works.

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A perfect example of why you should support kickstarters and these creators at conventions, once they are back in full swing of course, because it’s the kind of storytelling that piques your interest and then you come to find it is so much better than any of the expectations that you had for it. Personally I was expecting a lot based on the campaign and not only does this deliver but it makes me excited that it’s so much better than I was hoping for and has created a new series I need to keep track of. With smart intelligent writing and strong witty characterisation wrapped up in these spectacular interiors you’ll find yourself loving this the same way I am.