Comic Book Review: Burnouts #1

Dan Traeger   |  

Oct 25, 2018

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Wherein we sit down, grab a joint, take a few drags, kick our feet up and crack open a comic book.

[easyazon_link identifier=”B07GL444W6″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Burnouts #1[/easyazon_link] is the new book by Dennis Culver and Geoffo. If you don’t know these two names, you should. Dennis Culver started in the mini-comics scene with a great story called Funwrecker and later graduated to co-creating the excellent digital comic series, Edison Rex. Geoffo is relatively new to print, but he’s a great cartoonist and an amazing storyteller.

Burnouts hits the ground running and doesn’t let up. The plot is simple. Aliens have invaded. They can take over any living body, human or animal. The only way you can see them is to get high. The characters are a bit of a cliche pack of stoner losers, but I think that’s the point. The protagonist Andy sneaks out to a party, gets high for the first time, hijinks ensue. Not much else too it really. It’s a light and fun story. Culver’s pacing is tight. His dialogue is spot-on and it’s a great beginning to what looks to be a fun and wild ride. It’s pretty much a cross between [easyazon_link identifier=”B075RSZP2D” locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]They Live[/easyazon_link] and [easyazon_link identifier=”B002L9N906″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Half Baked[/easyazon_link], with a splash of [easyazon_link identifier=”1250035953″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]John Dies at the End[/easyazon_link].

The Art Kicks Ass Too

Geoffo goes for a simple heavy black line style that’s like the bastard lovechild of Kyle Baker and Jhonen Vasquez. His characters are drawn with a fluidity that makes the static pages appear as if something’s always in motion. Even the background characters are always doing something. He’s so good at framing the story that even though you know it’s coming when you finally see the aliens it’s jarring. In a good way.

In a lot of cases when a primarily digital artist makes the jump to print, something is lost in the translation. Not so here. Geoffo brings his animation experience to full bear and combines it with his digital comics background to make for a truly unique and satisfying art experience. His art dovetails perfectly with Culver’s sense of humor and together they make a little bit of printed magic.

The Verdict

[easyazon_link identifier=”B07GL444W6″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Burnouts #1[/easyazon_link] is well worth your time and money. It’s fun, fast-paced and a nice break from the heavy-handed stories that have been sucking up a lot of Image’s resources lately. Just shut your brain off and go with it. I promise you’ll have fun.