By: Ian Churchill (writer, art & colors), Nicolas Chapuis (colors), Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt & JG Roshell (letters & design)
The Story: We are introduced to Steve Ocean a.k.a., Marineman.
What’s Good: What a bright shiny and upbeat comic book this was! This story is virtually all introduction, but the main character (Steve Ocean) and his supporting cast are all such nice, light-hearted and enjoyable characters that the lack of a story or purpose for the issue is almost moot. Comicdom is soooooo full of gritty, grimy tales that sometimes you need a refreshing palate cleanser and there just aren’t enough comics that can was that grim off and make you feel clean again. Marineman looks like it could be that kind of comic.
The basic story is simple enough as we meet Steve Ocean. If you’re in your 30’s or 40’s and were into science shows as a kid, you probably remember when Jacques Cousteau was a TV star. Talk about a simpler time… Can you imagine a marine biologist/diver/explorer being a celebrity nowadays? Steve Ocean is Cousteau in terms of star-power, but younger, buffer and American. He also seems to be a relentlessly nice guy.
Churchill takes us through a lot of basic marine biology and diving information. He clearly knows a lot about these fields and they struck a particular chord with me as someone who studied a lot of these concepts as an undergraduate and used to dive as well. It was really nice to see a comic writer who was just using actual science instead of making stuff up and not screwing up the science being discussed. Maybe some of the evolutionary theory got dicey, but it was a pretty strong performance by a writer!
The art is very strong in this comic. Churchill’s style is very much exemplified by the cover image: cartoony and bright. In fact, “bright” is the best word to describe the art as it uses a lot of white and ocean blue to create a very beautiful comic book. Kudos to whoever selected the color palate for this book!
What’s Not So Good: Two minor things that didn’t bug me, but could annoy some readers. For one thing, this comic gets very wordy in places, especially when discussing things like the physiology of the dive reflex. In this issue, the writing and dialog flow very smoothly, but if the writing got even a little choppy the amount of writing could be a problem.
The other quibble is that we didn’t really get much of the plot in this issue. I enjoyed the heck out of it, but would like to know a little more about the story. What will Marineman be about? I can’t say at this point.
Conclusion: What a pleasant surprise! I heartily recommend this to anyone seeking something crisp and refreshing in their comic reading. It is also completely different than anything else on my pretty extensive pull list and I’m all about variety. And the art is beautiful. Hopefully the story will become clearer in future issues.
Grade: B+
-Dean Stell
Grade
Conclusion