Review: 20XX, Vol. 1

20XX, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Luna
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ever been on a first date and you realize about halfway in that you don't even like the person you're on the date with. I don't mean hate them, but rather that they're just annoying. You don't even really want to be vague social media buddies much less romantic partners that are allowed to invade each other's personal space. The worst part is that you feel pressured to finish the date enough though the relationship has already failed. That's what it felt like reading this book. Nothing to really hate, but it was annoying to finish because I felt pressured to do so. I think mostly so I could complain about it in this review.

The reason I choose the dating analogy was because this book has a lot of post-teen social drama. Every character in this book is at that awkward age where they can legally have sex but still can't be compelled to behave like an adult most of the time. I found myself skimming the unreasonably large text bubbles that were mostly people venting their unearned emotions. Whenever someone is discussing plot or literally taking an exposition dump, their voice is far more concise. But when they're unpacking their emotional baggage, they'll hold the plot hostage for several pages until they're finished.

It's just bad writing all around. Bloated dialogue aside, there's almost no intelligent world-building or engaging characters. The pacing is downright horrible and several issues end with the exact same cliffhanger of the 'villain' looking at someone and making a statement that doesn't impact the story as much as the comic seems to think it does. It just doesn't effectively utilize anything. And I mean anything. Even naked boobs.

The art was obviously meant to be in color. There's a difference in how artists draw if the art is going to be colored in later compared to knowing it's going to stay black and white. The art in 'The Walking Dead' works because it was always meant to be in B&W. Sure, it looks fine colored in but remains in its best effect if it stays without color. The art, at least to me, looks as if they planned to add color but backed out after the fact. Either it was a money or bad artistic decision. Doesn't really matter. I doubt I would have enjoyed the art even if it was in color.

If it isn't obvious by now, I didn't care much for this book. I'm not disappointed because that implies this book showed promise. It did not. It wasted some of my life, but, to be fair, it is my life to waste. My only regret is that I just didn't get up and leave without even paying the bill.

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