Suicide Jockeys #1

Suicide Jockeys #1

Source Point Press/Half Evil Comics 2021

Written by Rylend Grant

Illustrated by Davi Leon Dias

Coloured by Iwan Joko Triyono

Lettered by HdE

Ten years after a catastrophic mission gone wrong, Denver Wallace, leader of the Suicide Jockeys - a poor, usually drunken, almost certainly mentally ill crew of monster-fighting, tank-and-aircraft-piloting suckers - must pick himself up off of the proverbial and literal floors, slap his estranged, desperately-fractured team back together and right what once went wrong.

I’m a weirdo, and proud of it, because I get excited over books like this one. Rylend asked me to review this one for him and while it was on my review list anyway I was thrilled he asked. Rylend isn’t your typical writer either and his work generally tends to be as cerebral as it is exciting and action packed and this first issue is no different. There are any number of tongue-in-cheek moments in this issue that blend seamlessly with the catalyst for what we’ll see moving forward. We get a great look at that event and its impact on Denver and his former crew and I have to admit what we see as a result made me laugh out loud as it did make me cringe with understanding why he’s like he is.

I am absolutely loving 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 exquisitely. The character development we see through the narration, dialogue, character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does this magnificent job in establishing their personalities for us. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, introducing the characters and the world they live in it does a sensational job in capturing the readers’ imagination.

I have to say that I am a fan of the way that we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story emerge, grow and strengthen. The layers contain the flashback sequences, the present as well as the characterisation and plot twists and all of these add some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is immaculately achieved.

I am an absolutely huge fan of the work we see on the interiors here. The linework is clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the detail work we see throughout the issue is extraordinary. There is some excellent use of backgrounds throughout the issue expanding and enhancing the moments. How we see them work within the composition of the panels to bring about the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. 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 and how to maximise its effects.

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What a sensational debut issue. This one has everything we need, the backstory, the current day and what’s to come all brought to us in one form or another and it’s got heartbreak, action & adventure and just pure storytelling moments. Rylend in my humble opinion is having a blast with this story and you can feel the passion that went into making it as it shines on the page and infects the reader with the same kind of passion and enthusiasm for the book. With some stellar writing and crazy effective characterisation brought to life by these exceptional interior artwork Suicide Jockeys is going to be your next high octane adventure.