Former webcomic turned print comic Plume tells us the story of Vesper Grey and her supernatural bodyguard Corrick in creator K. Plume 1Lynn Smith‘s own version of the Wild West. While on the quest to recover Vesper’s father’s life work, the two encounter new friends, new enemies, and the wilderness that the Wild West really is. Fresh off the success of the Plume Kickstarter, the book is now making its home at Devil’s Due Publishing for the duration of the five issue miniseries.

This first issue is a pretty standard expository issue, where the reader is started in media res, with the characters in the middle of some action. The story progresses a bit more before some backstory is given, and then the issue wraps up. It’s nothing special, but gives you a decent feel for the characters and where the story will be heading. While it’s not especially riveting, it’s also not bad either. There’s some humor, some drama, a bit of implied violence, but nothing especially amazing. The mystery of Vesper’s locket is intriguing, as is where Corrick came from, but whether the suspense from that alone is enough to carry the issue and compel the purchase of the next issue is questionable.

Smith’s art is good; it’s full of clean lines and the colors are beautiful. The characters are quite expressive, which is a personal must. The backgrounds are usually simple, which keeps the attention on the characters and their actions. Even with the fact that it’s technically good art, I still find myself not enjoying it as much as I should, simply because it’s too “anime-y”. Don’t get me wrong, “cartoon-y” art is wonderful. Chew channels the cartoon feel, which works for the story. For those who aren’t used to an anime style, it may be distracting.Plume2

The fact that Plume was originally a webcomic was something else that definitely piqued my interest. The reading left me a bit dissatisfied though. It’s not that Smith is a bad storyteller or even a bad artist. Plume works best as a webcomic. While the comic book format wasn’t necessarily bad, it felt as if the the overall format just wasn’t working to Plume‘s advantage. It may have just been this issue, and the rest of the story will be wonderful, but I was left wanting from the overall flow of the story.

Plume just wasn’t phenomenal. It wasn’t bad either. It was a pretty good initial work for someone who is seemingly new to the world of print comics. Judging from the number of Kickstarter backers, Plume has a huge amount of fans, so there is something there that people enjoy.

 

Related posts: