The Indie Comix Dispatch: Alice Cooper Takes the Lead

4.08/5.0 StarsRating if the Book Were a Movie: PG-13

Creative Team:

Writer: Rodney BarnesArtist: Edu MennaColors: Adriano LucasLetters: Troy PeteriCover: Andrew MangumEditor: Joseph RybandtPublisher: Dynamite

Ratings:

Story: 4.1 StarsArtwork: 4.0 StarsCover Artwork: 4.1 StarsDialogue: 4.1 StarsMechanics: 4.1 StarsEditing: 4.1 Stars

About the Book:

Lucifer is playing the blues at the Crossroads jazz club. The crowd goes nuts for him when he plays. But as Richard Pryor points out, everybody in Hell is going to clap when Lucifer plays. Prince tells Lucifer that humans are the ones that will let him know if he’s great or not. Lucifer takes that to mean he needs to eliminate the competition, and does so. Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and others are hauled off by Lucifer’s forces, leaving Alice Cooper as our last best hope.

Reader’s Notes:

I have a friend in the comic industry that has an amazing resume. At some point he’s worked on a title for just about every character you can imagine. I’ve learned to trust his judgment when he talks about a title that is worth checking out. That is how the first issue of Alice Cooper found its way into the stack of books in my haul from the local comic book store.

I listen to a variety of music. I’ve had the privilege of getting to see some iconic performers in concert over the years. Alice Cooper is one that I’m not extremely familiar with. Of course, I know “School’s Out”. Beyond that song I’m drawing a blank, though. This book has made me want to hear more.

It’s not often that the hero of a comic book title is an established pop culture icon. I enjoyed how Mr. Barnes chose to break away from the norm. Moreover, I really liked the premise of this story. Combat with Lucifer for our souls, and the weapon of choice is music.

I love it. Music is such a large part of who each and every one of us is. We all have had moments when hearing a song instantly transports us to another time and place. Whether they’ll admit it or not, many people have a song playing in their heads for big moments like they’re professional wrestlers.

Alice Cooper pulling himself out of a grave on the cover is very eye-catching. The line work is terrific. The way this piece is colored makes it pop. It’s so intriguing that even if my friend hadn’t said anything about this book I would have been adding it to my stack.

From start to finish the artwork on the interior pages is amazing! The line work is solid. The coloring makes characters jump off of the page. We get to see some familiar faces that were taken from us far too soon, as well as some well done undead rock and roll fans. My only complaint about the artwork is that we didn’t get to see Prince playing basketball in heels.

As a geek on a budget I believe Alice Cooper #1 is well worth the price of admission. This is a fun book that has something for everybody as we get to see some of music’s royalty from the past 55 years.