Ex-girlfriends can represent painful experiences for many of us. If you feel that someone from your past did you wrong, I’m willing to bet the pain you find within the pages of Zenescope’s Fly #4 will surpass your personal discomfort threshold. That’s not even counting the actual STORY! Jump, if you dare…
FLY #4
Writer: Raven Gregory
Pencils: Eric J
Colors: Michael Garcia
Letters: Crank!
Cover(s): Tyler Kirkham & Blond (Cover A), Ale Garza & Michael Garcia (Cover B), Eric J & Michael Garcia (Cover C), Ale Garza & Nei Ruffino (Exclusive 500 Limited Edition)
Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
Cover Price: $2.99
Previously in Fly: Fly #4 is not what I would consider ‘new reader friendly.’ It would appear that there is an engineered super-power formula that has somehow found itself within the physiology of some rather destructive individuals. Our protagonist doesn’t want to dose up in order to face against a homicidal ex-girlfriend who has just soundly kicked his ass, leaving him a pulpy mess. Not wanting to face the ex (can you really blame him, folks?), he’s struggling to find a way to keep her from continuing her one-woman destruction derby.
WELL, IT’S A COMIC…
I pride myself in being able to find something positive to say about almost any piece of art. Whether it’s the passion, the attention to detail, the overall theme…there’s generally something worthwhile to admire. Fly #4 is making that a very difficult endeavor.
The story is remedial, the dialogue is wooden, the artwork is all over the place and the characters are not likeable. There is very little to keep me interested enough to invest myself in these pages. If this were a self-published book that a couple of creators had funded themselves, I’d say they might be onto something. But to see this published and distributed by an actual publisher, I have to admit that I’m pretty surprised.
THIS IS GOING TO LEAVE A MARK
I don’t want to come across too harsh, but there are a lot of things going against this comic.
Time transitions used for character development and historical context do little more than confuse the reader. The likenesses of the characters as children and adults don’t bear enough similarity to effectively illustrate that the story jumps around several times throughout the issue.
While a few pages have some instances of strong potential, the overall pencils from Eric J are lackluster. Having said that, the muddy artwork is a good match for the subpar storytelling and dialogue. Rather than excise examples of mediocrity, my eyes are urging for me to quit while I’m ahead. Revisiting the book is honestly that painful.
BOTTOM LINE: Move Along – There’s Nothing To See Here
Let’s assume this is very early in the career of Raven Gregory and Eric J (wonder if there’s a reason he doesn’t use his entire last name?) and that they are earnest in their love of comics creation. Perhaps future output will benefit from the practice that these pages provided. In the meanwhile, Fly #4 earns 1 out of 5 stars.
