Suicide Jockeys #1 begins a new indie comic series from Source Point Press. Writer Rylend Grant crafts a world that’s full of kaijus and mechas, but still feels rather similar to our own. The mechanical designs by artist Davi Leon Dias are something to behold. Colorist Iwan Joko Triyono makes more than a few elements stand out. Finally, letterer HdE keeps the story flowing smoothly.
Suicide Jockeys #1: More Than Escapist Fantasy
On first glance, Suicide Jockeys #1 looks like your usual escapist fantasy full of mechs and time travel, but it’s actually a series that’s specifically about escapism. “Suicide Jockeys” are the closest thing this series has to superheroes, battling aliens, kaiju, and other threats with their specially designed armored vehicles. But, as exemplified by lead character Denver Wallace, a Suicide Jockey’s life is full of PTSD, burned bridges, and burnout. If anything, Denver seems like he’d rather go out in a blaze of glory. If given the choice to live in a world like ours, he’d rather live in some escape fantasy.
But… what if this fantasy had the chance to fix everything? Suicide Jockeys #1 engages the reader and Denver with an offer too tempting to refuse: time traveling back to the point where everything went wrong for Denver and his crew. Their last job was the first domino in a series of bad events, like the earthquake before a tsunami. Why wouldn’t Denver want to prevent a personally traumatic event when he has everything to gain from it?
Art
Dias’ penciling shows some incredible mechanical designs. The giant robot Denver’s crew is fighting against is a marvel to behold. It’s got a sleek, showy design, and bright coloration by Triyono that tells us more about its billionaire pilot than her actual appearance ever would. Compare this to Denver’s paramilitary unit, which pilots more practical armored vehicles with a darker color scheme. They don’t look too impressive at first, but their combined form, Big Mama, looks like it should be turned into a collectible model.
HdE’s lettering sets the pace of Suicide Jockeys #1. Between the faster motion of the robot battle, and the slower beat of the conversational scenes, the captions and word balloons flow very smoothly. It almost feels like watching a movie instead of reading a comic book.
Gear Up In Suicide Jockeys #1
Suicide Jockeys #1 entices readers with an escapist fantasy anyone in a post-2020 world would want to dive into. Reading Suicide Jockeys #1 feels like experiencing a science-fiction action movie firsthand! Pick up Suicide Jockeys #1, out from Source Point Press August 25th, at a comic shop near you.
