Radiant Comics

I’m back from the comic shop this week and I got four new comics plus a magazine:

And now for a review of something I’ve read recently.

”Dancer” Issues 1-5 by Nate Edmondson and Nic Klein

I’m not sure if ”Dancer” is a continuing series or a mini but either way these five issues contain a complete story. It’s the story of a CIA assassin who is unexpectedly forced to protect himself and his girlfriend, who doesn’t know about his job, from another assassin who is out to kill them. The girlfriend is also a ballet dancer. Hence the title of the comic.

”Dancer” is short on back story and long on cat-and-mouse games. There may be more of an explanation of why things are happening to this particular assassin but I don’t even remember it. It’s pretty much like every other hunted spy story I’ve ever read but that’s okay since it’s well done. Sure there are some things that are specific to this spy story and a nice twist that hooked me at the end of issue one but I think it was the artwork that really sold me on this comic.

I think Nic Klein does a good job capturing the feel of a snowy European city (I don’t remember which one but it’s almost always Paris in spy stories) and atmosphere is a big part of the show here. The other part is the clear storytelling that showcases the set-ups and resolutions of the cat-and-mouse games. Thick, inky, black lines and muted colors also add to the story’s richness.

I don’t have much else to say about “Dancer” only because it was a fairly simple but well crafted story. It was a spy story that was familiar yet told in such a way as to be involving. I liked it. Give it a read.