By: Brian Wood (writer), Ryan Kelly (art), Jared K. Fletcher (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Shelly Bond (editor)
The Story: A few of our freshmen co-eds at NYU have life-changing experiences.
What’s Good: Again this month, New York Five is really a showcase for Ryan Kelly’s art. The story is good too, and I’ll get to that in a minute, but the art is so good that it overshadows the script.
Kelly is just a beast drawing architecture. NYC comes alive under his pencil and pen and that is vitally important because The City is as much a character in this story as any of the young ladies. I would love to know more about his process and if he is using some sort of photo-assist. I wouldn’t hold it against him if he was because the end-result is incredible, but the only other option is that he doesn’t sleep because I can’t imagine how this could be a monthly book with this level of detail. Or….it was all “in the can” before they solicited it?
The other great thing about Kelly’s artwork is that he can get his characters to act and emote without resorting to a cartoony art style. Cartoony would never work with his buildings and architecture, but most artists who go for a more realistic style get more wooden characters and also have the stray panel where someone just looks funny. This never happens with Kelly’s characters and he nails their faces and bodies from just about every angle possible. Just amazing!
This reviewer is such an art whore that the story almost becomes an afterthought, but Wood is doing good work here too. I’m a sucker for these young-women-coming-of-age, and if you like those types of stories, you’re going to love these characters. They are all so lifelike and will all remind you in some way of people you’ve known in your life as these girls struggle with the transition from childhood to being an adult while also adjusting to life in the city.
What’s Not So Good: Well, it is a little angst-filled. If you don’t like teen-angst, just stay away because that is the main course here. I like these types of stories, but if you aren’t happy when you’re not seeing Wolverine chopping someone up, you’re probably not going to be happy.
I also have some questions about where this story is going to be after issue #4. This isn’t a story that has a typical three-act structure. We’re just kinda watching these young women go through their lives as if we were voyeurs. This story supposedly takes place during the second semester of their freshman year, but it isn’t even going to cover the whole semester. I doubt it’ll even get to spring break!
Conclusion: This was another tour de force by Ryan Kelly with a very capable slice of life story by Brian Wood.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
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