Quicksand #3 – The Indie Comix Dispatch: A Critical Analysis

3.80/5.0 StarsRating if the Book Were a Movie: R

Creative Team:

Writer: Jonathan HedrickArtist: Debora LancianeseColors: Sunil GhagreLetters: Cristian DocolomanskyEditor: Peter Riesett and Andrea Lorenzo MolinariPublisher: Scout Comics

Ratings:

Story: 3.9 StarsArtwork: 3.8 StarsCover Artwork: 3.7 StarsDialogue: 3.9 StarsMechanics: 3.8 StarsEditing: 3.7 Stars

About the Book:

Creatures from beneath the Earth’s surface attacked Egypt. As quickly as they began the attack they retreated. Scientists found a way to take the fight to the creatures and a squad called Canary One was formed. The squad went below the surface and was never heard from again. A year later the creatures briefly returned. They were driven back; but they left something behind…. A member of Canary One! Now Stephanie Noon and company are preparing to launch Canary Two to find what’s left of their original crew.

Reader’s Notes:

Over the years we’ve seen many strong female lead characters. Sarah Conner, Ellen Ripley, Leia Organa, and Katniss Everdeen are a handful that come to mind off the top of my head. Stephanie Noon is all of these characters rolled into one. She’s good in a fight. She has solid leadership skills. She has a sense of humor when it’s called for.

From having to constantly interact with a bad decision for an intimate partner to the daunting task of planning a mission she has a lot going on. Stephanie needs to be able to have a laugh or two. Otherwise everything on her plate would be overwhelming.

I liked how the tempo of the story slowed down for a moment so we could get to know more of the characters. Marco seems like a nice guy. Dennis doesn’t know when to just shut his mouth. The fact that he isn’t speaking at least an octave or two higher is a surprise.

I enjoyed seeing the other side of the portal the team went through. By nature humans are an exploitative species. Going through that portal is what’s next. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the world the creative team has made for us.

This cover does a fantastic job of showing us how dangerous it is on the other side. I like the way it creates intrigue while being relevant to the story. I wish more of Quicksand’s contemporaries would find a way to follow suit.

I don’t know if it was planned, but having the majority of the book colored in brighter shades when a lot of nervous jokes were being told helped ease the tone for the reader. We get a sense of people attempting to lighten the mood while showing us how serious the situation is. Everyone involved in the mission knows that this may be the last day of their lives. They have accepted this fate and have decided it’s better to leave people with happy memories.

Quicksand is quickly climbing the ranks of “must read” books in my reading queue. The plot is intriguing. The characters are very relatable. The artwork is great. As a geek on a budget, you can’t ask for more than that from a comic book. I would highly recommend this series to new readers.