The Pull List: Tech Jacket

Tech Jacket, Issue #1
Via Image Comics

I try to give a new comic several issues before I decide if I like it or not, and with Image Comics, I'm usually hooked within that period. With Saga and Sex Criminals, all it took was one issue (well, one trade paperback), and I couldn't get enough.

Not so much with Tech Jacket. Admittedly, I never read the original from 2002, so I was going in blind; I think this was supposed to be a continuation of the series, since the main character, Zack, is already wearing the suit and seems to be familiar with the Geldarians - the ones who provided the armor to him in the first place. Perhaps I should read the original, but I don't really want to. This new series, so far, doesn't give me a reason to care about it.

First, the art by Khary Randolph and Dave McCaig is not necessarily my favorite. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination; it's just that, out of the innumerable amount of styles out there, this one happens to not be among the ones that I feel are aesthetically pleasing.

Tech Jacket, Issue #1
Via Broken Frontier

I do really like the coloring, though, like in this panel.

Tech Jacket, Issue #1

In other instances, I would have been able to overlook the artwork if the story had captured me, but I felt the dialogue was a little cheesy. I suppose they were trying to go for a more all-ages feel, instead of the mature bracket, and it's not like I don't enjoy comics that are made for children. Bee and Puppycat and Bravest Warriors are books that I pick up to read each time they publish a new issue, and they are most definitely geared toward a younger audience. But in Tech Jacket, they're just trying to sound edgy without using curse words, which meh.

So yeah, this is the first Image comic that I'm taking off of my pull list, which makes me a little sad. They tend to put out such solid work that's engaging in every single way. Oh, well. I may pick up a later issue to see if things have improved, but until then, I'll enjoy the fact that I've whittled my pull list down by one. There are a lot of books on this month's list.