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Review: Lone Star Soul

Review: Lone Star Soul

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There’s no doubting that Lone Star Soul writer/illustrator Peter Campbell knows his onions when it comes to comics; In his humble, self-deprecating author’s note he cites the likes of Judge Dredd and Johnny Alpha, along with creators Frank Miller and J. Michael Straczynski, as sources of inspiration for taking on this blaxploitation-sci-fi-western tale, and includes a handy list of the many Motown and soul songs that are referenced throughout, adding the likes of James Brown and Marvin Gaye to his impressive and varied list of influences. He then makes the point that at no time does he feel his work has gotten anywhere near the level of these creators. On this score, too, he’s right on the money.

Lone-Star-Soul-Book-OneSomewhere in the middle of this well-intentioned morass of clichè and repetition is a quirky story with cult potential. The plot, following failed blaxploitation/western actor Leroy Soulo as he’s suddenly teleported from his film set to a desolate planet in need of a saviour has a sense of fun about it, sort of Django Unchained meets Firefly with a dash of Thor or The Neverending Story thrown in; the main character already comes loaded with and entire film culture behind him (it’s likely no coincidence that Soulo bears something of a resemblance to 70s blaxploitation regular Jim Kelly); and the idea of a jive-talking version of Kane from Kung Fu fighting an as-yet unseen enemy is an intriguing, Whedon-esque prospect with lots of storytelling roads to travel down. How spectacularly it fails in delivering on its promise is actually quite disheartening.

The backstory, the main hook for the character, is explained away in an over-long all-text prologue that repeats the same two or three pieces of information over and over, and comes peppered with numerous mentions of, and puns on, the word “soul.” It builds no sense of character or place for the reader, telling instead of showing in the way comics do best, and leaving the first pages – an introduction of the awkwardly monikered “Thelonius Q-Mo-So” – feeling cold and uninvolving. This second prologue’s revelation that Soulo is DEAD falls completely flat because of a lack of an introduction for the character, and it being followed by yet another text-heavy piece of exposition before the story begins doesn’t exactly grab you by the short and curlies.

Lone-Star-SoulIt would be nice to say that this inauspicious start gives way to a ripping yarn, but it only gives way to ripping yawns as the repetition of the dialogue ramps up to near-beat poetry levels. The phrases “I walk,” and “the light” join the endless “souls” “soles” and “soullesses” that swarm over too many text boxes, taking character and plot precisely nowhere at the speed of slow. After twenty-six or so pages, we end up more or less at the beginning of the prologue, during which time Soulo has walked (A LOT) had a stilted conversation with a radio, picked up a map, and started walking again towards light in search of his soul. Possibly while being hit in the face by a sole-swinging, stole-wearing soloist, or something.

There’s no threat, no setup, nothing for a reader to hold onto, and the end result drags. In his author’s note, Campbell makes reference to channeling the text heavy page style of 2000 AD’s classic tales, but those books crammed a helluva lot more story into a fraction of the space Lone Star Soul takes up, and it shows. At least the visuals are pretty, putting clean sci-fi space with parched Leone-style vistas and some shiny crisp technology that engages at times, though the insipid parroting that crowds proceedings eventually means we end up looking at a lot of nice pictures of people walking.

It’s worth mentioning that Lone Star Soul is Campbell’s first attempt a full comic book, and it’s clear he’s approached the story with a ten-gallon hatful of ambition and dedication despite the huge learning curve he has to deal with, but this just doesn’t excuse using blocks and blocks of text in a primarily visual medium, and substituting samey dialogue for character and plot development, rendering an imaginative set of ideas not just unimaginative but…well, soulless.

[easyreview cat1title=”The Arcade Verdict” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3.5″]

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