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In a world where demons and faery’s mix it up with cyborgs, you’re bound to expect some craziness. Vescell delivers on all of these fronts, with added action, nudity, and mind transfers.

Vescell #1

Writer: Enrique Carrion
Artist: John “Roc”  Upchurch
Publisher: Image Comics

Meet Mauricio Barrino. He also goes by “Moo” to some. Moo is an ex-cop, with some major skills. Fairly young, he is at the top of his “class” and now works as an agent for a consciousness transferring company. Enter Vescell. Vescell is an international company that excels in mind transfer. They take your mind and soul right out of your body, and transfer it into another. Mostly the rich can afford this, and it usually involves some pretty sticky situations. In Vescell #1, readers are privy to seeing Agent Barrino taking on some pretty interesting situations. Now, spoilers would be unfair, but let’s just say these aren’t your run-of-the-mill I-want-to-be-someone-else transfers. They involve sex and secrets, and make for some pretty interesting and unique characters. On top of all of this, Vescell’s main competition is Cybercan, who employ deadly androids rather than humans to do their transfers. Oh, and they also transfer your mind into a cyborg body, rather than organic. Throw a demon kid into the mix, and you have one of the most unique, original, and unorthodox stories.

Vescell can be kind of confusing at first. There are a lot of terms and acronyms that you have to get used to. Once a reader can get passed that, it doesn’t get easier. It is hard to remember the last time we had a futuristic sci-fi story that had a very supernatural element to it. Not to mention that Agent Barrino’s love interest, one of the driving forces behind the story, is a ghost. Or demon. It’s hard to be sure. Despite the eccentric premise, Vescell actually makes for a very entertaining read. There was plenty of action to keep a reader interested, and it was a lot of fun to see the next dilemma Barrino had to deal with. The art fit the story, with a little more of a sci-fi feel than supernatural. It made the fact that people accept demons as normal to be pretty funny.

Enrique Carrion has really come up with an unusual story here. To be able to mix so much drama, science fiction, and magic in one story is no easy feat. Not to mention all of the sex. It was as if everyone was constantly getting laid, and promiscuity is the norm. The funny part is that it wasn’t forced at all. It was actually pretty natural, because a lot of the driving motivations behind the characters were of a sexual nature. Agent Barrino, our main protagonist, was a hard character to get a grasp of, though. At times he seems really focused and driven and funny like a committed James Bond. At other times he was pretty aloof and indifferent. It was hard to follow him around and root for him. His support cast really helped his cause, because they were some pretty interesting characters.

John “Roc” Upchurch is a really good fit for this story. He has a unique style that is hard to describe. The environment has a 50s feel, but with a futuristic twist. Bit of an oxymoron there, but that’s the best way to describe it. His characters are easy to identify, which is a must for a new cast. His facial expressions seemed a bit off at points, but at other times really nailed the moment. The numerous “love” scenes, with Roc’s comedic touch, were exaggerated in just the right ways. They weren’t extremely explicit, but they displayed just the right amount to know “what was up.”

To say this is an abnormal story is an understatement. So many different genres flow into one entertaining story. On the surface it may seem like a re-imagined sci-fi story, but it isn’t that at all. It has the right mix of action, love, violence, sci-fi, supernatural, sex, and even a bit of James Bond thrown together for a very unique story. Enrique Carrion and John Upchurch have put together a really eclectic cast for one shocking ride, and who knows where it will end up. Oh, and I can also thank them for adding “fuckery” to my vocabulary.

Mike Parente
mike@comicattack.net