Leviathan #1 - Image Comics
Written & Letters by John Layman
Art by Nick Pitarra
Colors by Michael Garland
I think it's safe to say that we all have at least one person that we know that you never want to see show up at a party. For whatever reason it just brings everything and everyone down to the point where you're clock watching and searching your brain for excuses. Goth Jimmy definitely takes that to a new level in a new comic book series co-created by John Layman and Nick Pitarra. Let's stomp through the pages of Leviathan.
The story starts out innocently, with Ryan Deluca forgetting to buy enough beer for a party that he's having. So he did what any of us would probably do...he goes to the store with one of his buddies while everyone else finds a way to entertain themselves. Without spoiling anything, that turned out to be one of the worst ideas ever. I mentioned Goth Jimmy before, well he does something that goes far beyond a party trick. Perhaps you've seen the cover to this book? You can imagine what happens after that, but me describing it to you really wouldn't do it justice. Ryan makes a brave, snap decision to go save the love of his life and how that turns out is really the cliffhanger of the first issue.
There is a niche that I think Leviathan fits into quite well. Big monsters and campy fun is how I would really describe this book in a nutshell. For a book that deals with some dark, serious stuff it finds a way to remain light and humorous in it's own way. Before I dive more into the story, I have to stress just how great of a job Nick Pitarra and Michael Garland did in this issue. The colors are all over the page, especially when it matters most. Pitarra also has a full page spread in this book that you really want to pay attention to, because I believe I caught a couple of hidden elements in there (HINT: pay attention to the buildings and the "smoke".) You want to get the monster right in a book like this, and they do. You can tell from the opening pages that there is a clear love for the Kaiju monster heritage here and I think this is a good homage to that so far. At the same time, it's clear that Layman and company want to put a different spin on that. I feel like the tone they have set in this issue does that, and I hope it continues throughout the run.
RATING: PULL / BUY