Pisces #1

by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Johnnie Christmas & Tamra Bonvillain

Image Comic’s new series Pisces was billed as a body-horror series, but you wouldn’t know that from this first issue. Even the cover seemed more sci-fi than horror, so it was hard to have any set expectations when going into Pisces. The first issue follows a man named Dillon through various moments in his life. What these different vignettes have in common is still a mystery, but Pisces has only just begun.

Writer Kurtis J. Wiebe who is best known for Rat Queens and Peter Panzerfaust, hasn’t dabbled much in the horror genre since Green Wake. This made Pisces a very alluring read to see what kind of story Wiebe would be bringing to the table with this new series. However, it’s pretty hard to pinpoint exactly what he is going for with just this one issue. Pisces would be one of those Image series that would have greatly benefited from an oversized debut. This issue of Pisces is easy to follow, readers just aren’t quite sure what all of this means yet. Also, Dillon isn’t exactly someone you sympathize with right away, so those two factors make it hard to hook readers in yet. Even the final page reveal felt weak since the cover already spoiled the sci-fi aspect.

Johnnie Christmas made an impact recently with Image Comics with his work on the series Sheltered. Now Christmas counters that grounded art from Sheltered with some very eccentric work in Pisces. If you have followed Christmas’ work you will definitely see how he has constantly improved and Pisces is some of his best work yet. His double-page spread after Dillon gets knocked out in the start of this issue is a huge example of how far he’s come as an artist. Also the colors by Tamra Bonvillain look absolutely stunning. Bonvillain’s palette in Pisces shows how a true artist complements Christmas’ work while adding her own touch to the book. What the story may have lacked in capturing readers, this art team made up for in spades.

This was an intriguing start to Pisces. Clearly this is slow burn mystery with elements of both horror and sci-fi, so seeing how this team tackles all of those elements and brings them together will be interesting. Even though the first issue of Pisces was a subtle read, the mystery of “what does it all mean?” should be enough to keep most readers wanting to pick up issue two.