Wes is thirteen. School is a drag, his dad is never home, and life kind of sucks. Until one day, the unimaginable happens. Find out what it is in Finger Guns #1 from Vault Comics!
FINGER GUNS #1
Writer: Justin Richards
Artist: Val Halvorson
Colorist: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Editor: Adrian F. Wassel
Publisher: Vault Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 26, 2020
Previously in Finger Guns: Two young people, Wes and Sadie, have their own problems in life. School, family, friends or lack thereof – the teen years can be a challenge. Until one day, something changes everything…
LIFE IS TOUGH AT THIRTEEN
As Finger Guns #1 opens, we see Wes in class, although we don’t learn who he is for several more pages. The teacher gives the class a bunch of homework. As time drags, Wes aims a finger gun at the clock, only to have the teacher tell him that’s not going to change anything. At his locker, he finds out he’s not invited to a party tonight. He walks into a girl. He meets a dog on his way home, and it runs the other way. And then he gets home to find out that his dad is at a meeting for work and he’s on his own. Again. Sure, his dad left him money, but he’s alone.
He goes to the mall and eats at the food court there. When he idly shoots a finger gun at a father with a small child, the man has a brief angry outburst. He tries again, and the same thing happens. And again. He does discover it’s only one hand. Suddenly life is much more interesting – imagine being a kid with a secret power like this. He starts acting like he’s an action hero until he trips and falls. Someone offers him a hand up, and he almost shoots him with the finger gun, but at the last second actually thinks and decides not to.
On his way home, he “shoots” a man who was nearly hit by a car, who reacts in anger for a second, and then just as suddenly apologizes, and this is how Wes meets the girl who has a finger gun. However, when she shoots someone, they become really nice. This is Sadie.
They do realize that Wes shoots with two fingers and Sadie shoots with one, and they wonder if that has a different effect, or if they just happened to get different finger guns. I like that they’re smart and curious, and that they decide to test it out, on themselves. Sadie shoots West with two fingers; he becomes irrationally angry. She shoots him with one, and the anger stops. Wes stops, looks at Sadie, and just sits where he is. Yes, they figured out more about how this works, but he also experienced what it felt like to be controlled, and he didn’t like it. This is smart – right away they realize there is a side effect to their finger guns.
But what a fascinating idea, that a simple gesture these young people have been using for years suddenly has a powerful, if brief, effect on people around them. What can they do? Is there any limit? Just how much trouble can they get into?
BRIGHT AND IMAGINATIVE
The art style in Finger Guns #1 is bold and simple. The focus is all on characters in the forefront, with just enough details in the background to establish settings. One strength in the art is the facial expressions. Thirteen is a rough age, and it’s an age when emotions run big and change quickly. The faces show it, and so does the body language. I like the series of panels where Wes is texting with his dad. We see him at home, on the bus, and at the mall – three different places with virtually the same pose and body language as he is totally focused on his phone.
When Wes lets loose with his finger gun, it is fascinating to see how quickly people go from normal to angry. Wes finds it amusing; I look at the momentary flares of anger and I see potential consequences. Imagine making people so angry they say what’s on their mind instead of doing what we’ve all had to learn in order to live in communities – shut up and think first rather than blurting everything out. His finger gun even works on a fluffy little dog – it is such a cute dog, and its mad face is adorable, even if the dog does bite its owner.
BOTTOM LINE: AN INTRIGUING START
Finger Guns #1 is another solid example of the downright interesting books produced by Vault Comics. I like the characters, I love the idea, and I think there is a lot of room for a cool story here. I look forward to seeing more.
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Finger Guns #1
Beware the strange powers…of the finger guns!
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By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.