Whatever Happened To The World’s Fastest Man? Well, Where Is He???

Whatever Happened To The World’s Fastest Man?
Written by Dave West
Illustrated by Marleen Lowe
Published by Accent UK
Reviewed by Richard Caldwell

Hands down, this is a new and extremely inspired take on the whole concept of “speedsters”. To move faster than those around you, faster than nature or even physics- that is something, right? But what if such incredible powers were not so simple? What if physics (and possibly even quantum mechanics) played a bigger role? And what if those cursed with such abominable abilities really were, at the end of the long day, just one of us after all?
These are only a hint of the flavours suggested in this story, where a madman has unleashed a bomb in the heart of London proper capable of devastation two miles in circumference. Of course, the blessed powers that be try to deal with the situation in every which way imaginable, announcing at last to the public the dire circumstances at a point in which nothing else could possibly be done. Just enough time given for general panic to set in, with the streets overcrowding and all cool lost in the genuflections of guardian angels.

Enter Bobby Doyle, aka Joe everyman, regular bloke with regular dreams. Except for this strange ability of his, wherein he can step outside of time. Now like the average personas of most real-world folks, such power is wasted on common things, like sleeping off hangovers and the like. On the very odd occasion in which something truly unsettling settles in, Bobby is the sort to do what’s right. The downside, very effectively portrayed in West’s narrative, is that while he steps outside of the boundaries of time, his own time marches on, as time is prone to do, the limey bastard. In doing the right thing, his very own life is robbed of him. Think about that.
The art, by the lovingly ingenious Ms. Lowe, is done in a detailed pencil shaded sketch manner, with inked and even computer-enhanced detail awarded to the core points of each and every sequence and frame. This is a bit like Frank Quitely’s work, maybe just prior to his being looped into tights-work only on a steady basis. The characters are as expressive as the very best Manga efforts known to the Western hemisphere, but without any of the attributes of Manga usually offensive or distasteful to the otherwise common Western comic buyer sensibility. This is a fun, energetic style, even while energy itself is a thing that fades within the progression of the plot- and all entirely appropriate, mind you. This is one of those rare indie artists we see nowadays, who you just know beyond a shadow of a doubt is inventive enough to figure out how to draw anything a writer might lay down before her eyes. I do not say such lightly.
It is honestly quite difficult to express how innovative, yet personal, this story really is without giving away any major points of the comic. A few pages into the work and the reader will undoubtedly begin to catch a whiff of things to come; but to see it executed to such a degree…
This is simply one of the finest comic book stories I have seen in quite a spell. I sincerely hope others will read this work, and that it triggers the imagination as muchly as it has my own.
In terms of a personal sacrifice, this will open some eyes as to variant perspectives of unexplored superhero stories yet to be told. In terms of reader satisfaction, unless you are a moronic idiot with drool oozing down your chin round the clock, then a work like this should leave its mark.
A very very very fine comic book, and I was pleased by the experience of the read.

www.accentukcomics.com

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Richard Caldwell

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