When I first got the press release about the comic series Sanction I was immediately hooked on the idea. The basic concept was a detective, crime comic set in late stage Soviet Russia. For me crime noir is my favorite genre in comics, and I absolutely love the setting of Soviet Russia specifically the later years before the fall. I felt that Mad Cave Studios had themselves another great original comic on their hands with this one. The first issue does fall a bit short though.
The story hits all the basic plot points you want in a good crime story. We find ourselves a dead body, we have a detective out to prove himself, and of course a grander conspiracy behind the whole thing. All of these plot points make their way into this issue. So as a straight crime comic I feel it has a solid starting point to become something more interesting as the story continues.
Cover Gallery
Let’s start with the things I liked about the story in this issue. As I said above it presents a compelling crime with some characters along the way that peak my interest. I also very much enjoyed the back and forth between the detective who takes on the case and his wife as we progress through the early days of the case. Like most stories, crime comics require a great cast of characters for us to follow and be mislead by, and Sanction presents us with a few. Also the setting is just really great. Without spoiling too much I loved the way Ray Fawkes connects our lead character with a Russian specific group that I hope has a bigger part in the story moving forward.
I also want to talk about Antonio Fuso and Emilio Leece’s art in this issue as a thing I liked. One aspect of crime stories set in the United States is dark dim allies, and detectives working the seedy underbelly of city they are in. With this story we are in Lennigrad during the winter months. The art team uses this to make the city feel brighter while also giving us the sense of a country on it’s last legs. They also create environments throughout, like a bar scene later one, that present establishments that feel both familiar in so many way while also being unique to the country this story takes place in. Oh and I don’t want to forget that the outside scenes have great backgrounds that really show off the wonderful architecture of Russia.
Preview Pages
By this point you may be asking where does this comic fall short. Everything you described sound good. My basic problem with this issue is the predictability of the opening of this story. While I admitted early to the comic hitting all the plot point a crime comic should, it also made it fairly predictable. I personally felt like I was rereading a comic at points as I was able to see the twists before they came.
With all this being said my personally recommendation for read would be to wait, and see if this series’ future issues present a more compelling read. If you are as big a crime noir fan as myself it looks to be worth your time, but if you are looking to try the genre for the first time or give it another chance I would point you to other comics that do everything here better. As I write this review I would like to remind everyone that this is the first issue of a series so everything here is subject to change as the series progresses, and I really hope it does.
Sanction #1 is set to be released at your local comic book store, and digitally though the Mad Cave Studios website May 15th. All preview pages and cover art were provided by Mad Cave Studios.
Share this post
Comic Review!: Sanction #1
Share this post
Writer-Ray Fawkes
Artist-Antonio Fuso
Colorist-Emilio Lecce
Letterer-Dave Sharpe
When I first got the press release about the comic series Sanction I was immediately hooked on the idea. The basic concept was a detective, crime comic set in late stage Soviet Russia. For me crime noir is my favorite genre in comics, and I absolutely love the setting of Soviet Russia specifically the later years before the fall. I felt that Mad Cave Studios had themselves another great original comic on their hands with this one. The first issue does fall a bit short though.
The story hits all the basic plot points you want in a good crime story. We find ourselves a dead body, we have a detective out to prove himself, and of course a grander conspiracy behind the whole thing. All of these plot points make their way into this issue. So as a straight crime comic I feel it has a solid starting point to become something more interesting as the story continues.
Let’s start with the things I liked about the story in this issue. As I said above it presents a compelling crime with some characters along the way that peak my interest. I also very much enjoyed the back and forth between the detective who takes on the case and his wife as we progress through the early days of the case. Like most stories, crime comics require a great cast of characters for us to follow and be mislead by, and Sanction presents us with a few. Also the setting is just really great. Without spoiling too much I loved the way Ray Fawkes connects our lead character with a Russian specific group that I hope has a bigger part in the story moving forward.
I also want to talk about Antonio Fuso and Emilio Leece’s art in this issue as a thing I liked. One aspect of crime stories set in the United States is dark dim allies, and detectives working the seedy underbelly of city they are in. With this story we are in Lennigrad during the winter months. The art team uses this to make the city feel brighter while also giving us the sense of a country on it’s last legs. They also create environments throughout, like a bar scene later one, that present establishments that feel both familiar in so many way while also being unique to the country this story takes place in. Oh and I don’t want to forget that the outside scenes have great backgrounds that really show off the wonderful architecture of Russia.
By this point you may be asking where does this comic fall short. Everything you described sound good. My basic problem with this issue is the predictability of the opening of this story. While I admitted early to the comic hitting all the plot point a crime comic should, it also made it fairly predictable. I personally felt like I was rereading a comic at points as I was able to see the twists before they came.
With all this being said my personally recommendation for read would be to wait, and see if this series’ future issues present a more compelling read. If you are as big a crime noir fan as myself it looks to be worth your time, but if you are looking to try the genre for the first time or give it another chance I would point you to other comics that do everything here better. As I write this review I would like to remind everyone that this is the first issue of a series so everything here is subject to change as the series progresses, and I really hope it does.
Sanction #1 is set to be released at your local comic book store, and digitally though the Mad Cave Studios website May 15th. All preview pages and cover art were provided by Mad Cave Studios.
Leave a comment
Share