The Auteur #2

By Rick Spears, James Callahan & Luigi Anderson

The latest issue of The Auteur comes out this week and the whole thing is a long courtroom scene. Just reading that may have evoked a yawn, but I assure you, when Hollywood producer Nathan T. Rex is involved it’ll be everything except boring. Now T. Rex can add defense attorney to his resume, as he flexes what little knowledge of law he has to try to get a murderer to go free. Now remember he is doing all of this so he can use this killer’s hands-on experience butchering people to help him make the most shocking horror movie ever. What could possibly go wrong?

It would seem like almost everything Nathan T. Rex knows about the law he learned from movies, which is pretty believable for a Hollywood producer. Mr. Rex pulls some pretty unorthodox schemes in the courtroom by trying to pull out every hack trick in the book he can, and the scary part is it seems to actually work. The Auteur has been a real crazy series since the first page of issue one, so issue two’s antics fit right into the mold Rick Spears has already cast for what we readers can expect or, in this case, not expect from this series. The one thing that has stood out with reading The Auteur is how many times this series had actually made me laugh out loud. It’s always special to find a funny comic series that tickles your funny bone but it’s even rarer to find one that actually cracks you up to the point you have to take a laugh break. So far, The Auteur has been a sick, depraved, and immensely fun story.

This art duo of James Callahan and Luigi Anderson is an impeccable choice for this series. When you have such a wild concept for a story then you need an art style that elevates all of the great things about this story while adding an entire other layer of entertainment to bask in. The cartoonish style of art helps enhance all of the humor in the book but is still able to make the few disturbing moments feel heavy and not just goofy or out of place. Anderson’s colors make this whole book pop; his palette seems so bright that you almost need sunglasses just to read The Auteur. Even if the idea of a comedy horror isn’t your cup of tea, the art team of Callahan and Anderson is more than worth your time and money to invest in.

The Auteur has been one bloody and hilarious romp so far and it doesn’t look like things are going to calm down anytime soon. In fact, it looks like all of the insanity is just starting to begin for Nathan T. Rex now. It’ll be interesting to see how this whole debacle will unfold but right now it’s looking like a prelude to a bloodbath. So far, The Auteur has been a gratifying read that you actually look forward to reading, which is basically all you really want out of a comic.