REVIEW: Photonik

3.36/5.0 Stars
Rating if the Book Were a Movie: PG-13

Creative Team 

Writer: Ciro Tota
Art: Ciro Tota
Colors: Richard Isanove, Stephanie Paitreau
Cover: Ciro Tota
Publisher: Fairsquare Comics

Ratings 

Story: 3.6
Interior Artwork: 3.7
Cover Artwork: 3.7
Dialogue: 3.2
Mechanics: 3.0
Editing: 3.0

About the Book:

Life is about to change for a man named Taddeaus Tenterhook, who is a janitor for a science project known as the “Lightron Project”. An older gentleman named Nazel D.D. Zeigel, and a young kid named Tommy Oldfield aka Tom Thumb, who are all caught in a black-out on Christmas Eve.

Taddeaus is changed forever when a machine from the Lightron Project turns itself on and hits him with radiation levels that are off the charts. Mr. Zeigel is sensing an interference with his psychic energy and Tom Thumb who has been living in a local zoo, notices how the animals are affected by a weird disturbance, the three of them jump into action to figure out what has happened only to find an alien spacecraft has landed in the central park. Leaving the 3 aforementioned people the only one who can help

Reviewer’s Notes:

The cover of this book shows the heroes of the story with the villain in the background, it is a striking cover and gets your attention. The villain is mysterious throughout most of the book, so having him in the shadow was a brilliant idea.

The interior art matches the cover perfectly, the characters are distinguished and the emotions on their face are easy to understand.  The details are very well done, allowing the reader to understand what’s going on in the frame.  Making the visual references easy on the eyes, so that the reader can follow along smoothly.

The story itself in this book is a wonderful origin story. While a few name drops happen, there is no blatant hint on the time frame and location of these characters.  I do like how they hint at a bigger world, now due to the subtle hints, we as the reader do not know based on this sole issue, how big that world is. I have always liked stories that have multiple characters, because it shows how the creators thought about a bigger world scenario.

Photonik is also unique enough that if you are looking for a great story that is not part of the mainstream, then this is your book.  While this first issue does not go into a lot of background for the characters, focusing mostly on the title character Photonik, it hints at a continuation that is sure to be loved.

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May the historical documents of the imagination always inspire! Thanks for reading!