Slots #1 – Comicphiles
Written, drawn and coloured by
Dan Panosian
A couple of days ago I saw a post on Image’s Facebook page about their new series Slots, which is part of Robert Kirkman‘s Skybound imprint. The post immediately caught my eye, and when I was given a chance to review it I immediately jumped in.
By the time this review is out there the same will apply to issue one of Slots. And it’s something that makes me very happy, because if I haven’t made it clear in the past, I love crime stories and this has the potential to become one of my favourites.
Granted, at this point, we don’t know much about the characters, their stories or where the story will take us. But that’s what makes this comic interesting.
This issue serves as an introduction to the characters we’ll see in these pages. Especially the protagonist, Stanley Dance. In the first few pages we get a clear idea of the type of character he is. To be more concrete, he’s a washed-up boxer who gets by on his charm and luck. And when it looks like both are about to run out, an old friend gets in touch with him. He owes her a favour so he goes back to Las Vegas, a place he thought he’d never return to.
Nothing much is revealed here, other than some people might not be happy about Stanley being back in town, as he’s the type of character who seems to burn his bridges spectacularly. At this point it’s too soon to know what exactly went down (and why he left Vegas in the first place) but this lack of answers makes the issue more interesting. All in all, if we had all the answers on the first issue then it’d be a bit boring.
Sure, Stanley says that he has a plan to get his life back. But I’ve a feeling that even though he makes it sound so simple, things are going to backfire either for him or for someone else.
There’s something exceptional about Slots. And that’s the fact that its creator, Dan Panosian, is in charge of everything. He draws, colours, and inks the whole thing and that’s an impressive feat. I had heard about him, but I hadn’t read anything by him until now.
This issue has made me a fan of his work. Not just in terms of the story (even if I don’t know where it’s going, I’m a sucker for stories like this one), but I quite like his style here as well; it suits the story quite well and his colours enhance the seediness of the places we visit. It reminded me a lot of comics like Southern Bastards (another Image series).
Like I said, I have no idea where this story is going or how long it’s going to be but, personally speaking, I want it to be as long as Panosian wants, because I’m in for the ride. I’ll definitely be reading the rest of Slots.
What do you think? Will you be giving this series a go? Let me know in the comments!
Angry Spaniard, adoptive Irishman. Writer, reader, tea drinker and video game player/designer.
