Copperhead #2

By Jay Faerber, Scott Godlewski, and Ron Riley.

Copperhead is moving along quite nicely as a fun, suspenseful science fiction story.  Set around newly-appointed sheriff, Clara Bronson, it’s nice to have another strong female lead in a comic. Clara definitely wants to assert her station as sheriff, constantly reminding her deputy, Budroxfinicus (or Boo), that she’s the one in charge.  She goes through some lengths to help a family need even though she’s already beginning to neglect her own son, Zeke, who clearly looks up to his mother as he sets out on his own “adventure” to help a neighbor under duress and stirs up some trouble of his own.

Jay Faerber’s pacing is quite nice, not divulging too much information from the get-go, but enough for us to really start to get a feel for these characters. He makes the characters seem almost real with how they interact with one another.  He develops a nice back and forth of scenes separating the characters and somehow makes it all connect.  He gives us a taste of some police protocol, but not quite so much that you drift off–he’s definitely showing that he’s a well-rounded writer.

Scott Godlewski’s lines are nice and clean cut.  The designs for his humans are pretty standard, but the aliens are an entirely different story.  Barely having explored the world of Copperhead, we get to see a proverbial smorgasbord of interesting aliens. His facial expressions for the characters are what truly stand out, though.  You can really feel the emotions that the characters are going through.

A certain aspect of the coloring that really grabs attention is how nicely Riley can make lights shine off the page.  It feels as though they are actually illuminating the comic.   He keeps things pretty vibrant and definitely helps bring everyone into the picture.  He seems to have a decent knack for contrast as well, really making certain buildings, characters, etc., stand out.

The more interesting thing about this issue is that it was written “Marvel” style (no detailed script, just a plot and the artist has more creative control).  You can really see how creatively connected Faerber and Godlewski are when bringing this book to life and in our hands. If you are a lover of science fiction and suspense, definitely add this to your pull-list.  It’s a great read and seems to be leading to bigger and better things.