Black Crown
Written by David Barnett
Art by Martin Simmonds
Colors by Dee Cunniffe
Letters by Aditya Bidikar
No matter what genre of music you listen to, the story of rock is easily the most compelling. Just look at the genre over the years, from the music to the personalities behind it, there was never a shortage of stories to tell. Now imagine that you take that, and put a paranormal twist to it? Put the Black Crown team on it, and that sounds like music to my ears. So let’s throw on some vinyl and check out Punks Not Dead #1.
The story follows a teenager named Feargal Ferguson, or Fergie for short. We’re not sure how HE can sing the National Anthem, but Fergie certainly has quite a messed up life. He knows next to nothing about his father, and his mother has him living a life that it’s hard for me to even describe without spoiling the book. I doubt you’ll think much of her when you see it. As the book goes on, there is a bit of a twist involving Fergie and departed rocker Sid Vicious (yes, THAT Sid Vicious.) Think of HAPPY! but with a punk rock legend. If that’s not interesting enough, we also have a bit of a side story involving a very secret part of the UK government designed to deal with the paranomal. We don’t get much about that, other than they exist and so do the things that they go after. You definitely get the sense these stories will cross paths at some point. At the end of this issue, however, Fergie finds out something about himself and it’s far beyond being able to see a dead rocker.
This was one of the books that had my interest right when it was announced from Black Crown. Taking nothing away from previous releases, I think Punks Not Dead has the best art of any Black Crown book to date. I’m not sure if calling the work by Simmonds and Cunniffe top notch can even begin to describe it. If the odd beats of the story weren’t enough to keep your attention, the consistently vibrant art sure did. Still, I found myself feeling bad for Fergie and wanting the kid to catch a break. Whether he did or not either remains to be seen or is a matter of opinion for the reader. I’m not sure where this story goes from here, and in this instance, I like it. I feel like there is a good base here, and the off-beat delivery of it really makes me want to keep going. It’s a book that feels different, but not just for the sake of being different. So I say…rock on!
RATING: PULL / BUY