Copra #1
Written by: Michel Fiffe
Art by: Michel Fiffe
Image Comics
2019
COPRA returns in the first issue of its all-new ONGOING SERIES!
Acclaimed comics auteur MICHEL FIFFE picks up where his band of mercenary misfits left off, reintroducing the entire cast of his Suicide Squad-esque revenge machine in a brutal standoff against their own leader. Jump right into the thick of it with the world’s greatest action team in this extra-length debut milestone-36 pages for just $3.99!
Michel Fiffe gets major points in my book for doing this title practically single-handedly. However, the limitations of that show so clearly on every page, that I’m not sure it pays off. Copra is proud to be created, written, penciled, inked, colored, lettered, and produced by a single creative force, but you’d be perfectly correct to ponder if any one man can excel at all these things. The answer seems to be, sadly, no.
The storytelling isn’t always as clear as it should be, especially to the new readers the title will need to draw in to continue. There’s a team of bad-asses recovering after a mission, but what kind of mission, and whether they are heroes or villains is barely touched on. They seem to be decent enough, but they’re armed to the teeth and willing to cause collateral damage at the drop of a hat, so it’s not even clear if we should be rooting for them or not. This is made worse by the fact that the man trying to bring them down looks exactly like a well known crime-fighter from another comic… and that he used to be their partner and friend? Without having read about the team beforehand, I wouldn’t have a clue who as the “good guy” in this fight.
And while the art may be interesting, and it certainly has a fun, indie vibe to it, I can’t see it stacking up favorably to much else on the market today. The quality of the art in these pages is much more akin to those Ax Cop comics, that somehow became a thing because the artist was so young and simplistic.
There’s style here, to be sure, but the execution of it is so far below what we’re used to, that its hard to take seriously. The backgrounds are far too minimalistic, often being a single color in the panel with no indication of what else is taking place, or even WHERE the action is taking place. And that main action just isn’t much better – there’s impossible poses on some pages, tiny heads and elongated limbs in many panels, and the color scheme changes seemingly at random. I’m sure long-time fans will be excited to see the Copra team back in action, but there’s very little here that I think will attract new readers.
Acclaimed Series Returns as Ongoing
But is there anything here for new readers? Jumping into the middle of the story could be off putting to new folk, and the sketchy art style has really fallen behind the times. Longtime readers may love the return, but I can't see much to recommend for anyone else.
Brian Reed
Brian has been reading comics since January, 1987, when the death of Optimus Prime rocked his young world. Once a regular presenter on The Nerdstravaganza Podcast, Brian now writes for Florida Geek Scene.
