Review – Mayday #2 (Black Mask Studios)

Publisher: Black Mask Comics
Writer: Curt Pires
Artists: Chris Peterson, Pete Toms
Released: 29th April 2015

I’m not too sure what to say about Mayday Issue 2. Issue 1 being a superlative mix of something resembling the lovechild of Charlie Kaufmann and Hunter S Thompson, and Brett Easton Ellis, while being directed by Quentin Tarantino on the set of Natural Born Killers (and if you’ve read that you’ll know exactly what I mean). So I was kind of expecting Issue 2 to carry on the theme, and it does, except this time the set is In The Mouth of Madness, and perhaps ….. Dragnet?

I’m actually not sure I should be writing this review at the moment, I feel like I need to go and lie down. I actually feel a little violated; I can honestly say that Mayday is a complete an utter assault on the senses that doesn’t really slow down enough for you to get any bearings before you are projected in yet another direction, just as you think you’ve cleared up what exactly just happened on the previous page. And it’s glorious.

I would love to tell you what exactly happened, but even trying to produce a short summary seems like a giant task, there is so much going on in the 24 pages that to condense this into a summary would be an injustice, and I will not allow myself to do this. Suffice to say we are following the story of Oscar winning script-writer Terrance Gattica on the sore end of a two-year-bender. Issue two opens with him fleeing with Kleio, a girl he’s just met, whom he’s (possibly) slept with, definitely (almost) ran over in a car, and has (absolutely) just committed a double homicide with, and this comic is like that from start to finish.

It’s almost as if the writer has distilled every over-indulgent piece of opulence and stereotype Hollywood represents and has poured it into a type-writer to create Mayday, and I’ve not even covered the Cult lead by Bencio Del Cocaine yet.

The writing style is excellent, you do get the feeling that it’s almost like a movie that is being narrated to the reader, and the little random sound bites at the bottom of the page add to that and are very cool (my personal favourite: Embrace Post Capitalism!) The artwork is clear and crisp and promotes a sense of, well, speed that reinforces the sense of ‘What the hell just happened?’ when reading through the story.

After reading Mayday …. I actually think I can taste the rainbow.

Love it, solid 4 out of 5. I really hope the writers can keep up this level of momentum.

Rating: 4/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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