Crowded #1
Image Comics
Written by: Christopher Sebela
Art by: Ro Stein
Inks by: Ted Brandt
Color by: Triona Farrell
Letter by: Cardinal Rae
Crowded portrays the life and times of the “side hustle” where everything you can imagine is true. Lend your car to a stranger, dog walking, rideshare and putting a hit on someone. This comic is a nice look into how interconnected we are on mobile services, with violence thrown in. The premise is figuring out what did Charlie do to piss off a bunch of people that now want to kill her.
Christopher Sebela and Ro Stein have taken the idea of the side hustle and turned it into an interesting concept that anything can be for hire through your cell phone. The concept is unique as Charlie hires Vita to be her bodyguard through an app. She has based her protection and life by looking through reviews on an app. This view into society is very subtle and doesn’t hit you until after the issue is finished.
Ros’ art is fluid and works well with the multi-pace story that Christopher has delivered. Being able to change the pace from fast to slow helps center the story especially when you have two vastly different characters in Charlie and Vita. Ro is able to switch styles and is one of the biggest selling points for this series.
Crowded is off to a great start. If the creative team can keep up with the commentary of current culture and not rely on it to be the driving force of the story, Crowded can be a great series for Image. This series is one of which I will be looking forward to reading each month.