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Carbon Grey #1
Publisher: Image
Writer: Paul Gardener
Artist(s): Hoang Nguyen, Khari Evans, & Kinsun Lo
Cover: Hoang Nguyen

Paul Gardner throws you into the action of Carbon Grey from the first page, as we see the end results of an assassination attempt. The Kaiser is now dead and the suspect is one of the Sisters Grey who are sworn to protect him. We are taken through one of the sister’s escape as she cuts through a swath of armed guards and makes a pretty impressive jump out of a blimp. Most of the story is moved by a mysterious narrator who is describing a bit of the history about the sisters and their role for the past 300 years. There are always three of them, though now there is a fourth due to twins being born, so hopefully this is explained further as the story progresses.

We are only given a glimpse of the characters as Gardener moves this story pretty quickly. Nathilde is the one sister that we get the most information about, as it seems like she is the catalyst for what’s happening. The other characters that are introduced are enjoyable enough for what we’re given, though depending on how the other issues progress we’ll see if this is a bad thing. There were certain parts of the story that were confusing and may require a couple of read throughs to get the full scope of what’s going on. A little more character development in this issue would have probably helped with that since this is only a three issue series. Hopefully the next two issues will not read as fast since we are introduced to several interesting characters and their world.

Carbon Grey looks great from page to page, and you will be treated to some terrific eye candy as you read this issue. It’s violently beautiful and Evans, Lo, and Nguyen make every page count. The shot of the assassinated Kaiser was impressive, along with the battle sequence during the poem which was a favorite scene of mine. My only issue with the visuals would be that I’m not sure where the hell Eva pulled the huge scythe-like weapon from to decapitate the two aids. She also managed to keep herself from getting hit by any blood splatter.

This issue seems to hint that it has what it takes to blow fans away, so I’m looking forward to the next issue where hopefully we will be treated to more exposition and character development. If that does happen and the art continues to remain this good, then the fans will definitely have something to cheer for.

Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net