“Hey, that’s actually pretty cool.”
This was my first reaction to “Neon Noir” by Johnathon O.Lyon and Michael Kennedy. Though both authors are inexperienced, this 10-page comic book looks solid - both cleverly written and excellently drawn. Since it is made on a professional level, it deserves not just a simple praise, but a complete review as well.
"Neon Noir" is not just a striking title for a comic, it pretty much sums up both narrative technique and visual stylistic. Depressive and dark neo-noir story is combined with bright magenta colors. It is a strange mix, which is enjoyable to read.
The plot revolves around an unnamed man. The guy shares his thoughts on current societal tendencies, which he clearly dislikes - particularly, 80s retrowave fashion with shiny neon lights and synthpop tunes. His life is far less blithe and bright, and he hates everyone else for living a careless life of sex, drugs and music.
80s style indeed became popularized lately: in games, movies and music. And this fashion grows even bigger with each year, which is crazy. If you ask me, I am enjoying the hell of it. However, "Neon Noir" does not wages on whether this 80s fashion is good or bad. It pushes even further with a statement, criticizing the modern art-tendencies of any direction.
It is funny. Not so long ago I had a conversation about Prismatic Age of comic books - this current period in comics culture, when general tendencies in comic books rely heavily on the concepts of the past, and original ideas are hard to be found. Maybe it's not just comics? Maybe our culture became so reliable on the nostalgia, because we are unable to create something new? We are so overflown with information, that it gets harder to discover things, and rather than that, people choose to invent bicycle again and again. This is our near dead culture, covered underneath neon lights and chiptunes. How long will it take her to die entirely and switch to producing consumable pastiches?
Or maybe the praisal of our ancestors’ craft is so enormous right now, because we are privileged with vast range of tools, while they were making art with a limited amount of means? We won’t totally understand the meaning of where modern art is heading. But we know this: world can be dark and horrible place, and art escapism is probably the most effective way to get away from a repugnant reality. This is what “Neon Noir” is about - the attempts of escaping the cruel world in favor of music, drugs, sex or whatever else fills your mind with.
I find one particular moment worth pointing out:
In my point of view, it is quite a subtle line. It was not done for the sake of character’s gender establishment, but to highlight other form of escapism from cruel reality - love. With love everything seems a little bit brighter, right? And here Geri asks for a kiss, something to ease her approaching demise. And then dying feels much more harder for poor girl.
Though Johnathon O. Lyon is somewhat of a novice in writing comics, his style is already distinctive and delightful. I find his writing approach similar to that of Ales Kot, one of the my favourite new writers in comics. Johnathon’s lines are sharp and rarely lengthy, graciously leaving out useless information. He knows how to communicate with reader.
Michael Kennedy’s art is fantastic, high-level stuff. It resembles the art style of Michael Lark and Garry Brown, which I would consider as a big praise. Rushed lines, bold shadows and good sense of pacing helps to build up the story. It is a visual pleasure. One thing, that stands out is the color palette, which consists of primarily pink and green pastel colors. Great thing about those colors, is that they are contrasting, as noir-styled writing similarly contrasts with bright neon lights in the artwork.
Now Johnathon and Michael should do one thing - make more comics. Because this one is superb.
“Neon Noir” was created by Johnathon O. Lyon and Michael Kennedy.
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