This latest launch from Vertigo has gotten a pretty big push, and creators Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon have built strong reputations as artists thanks to their work on The Umbrella Academy and Casanova, respectively. I read one issue each of those series and decided to pass, but that was more about the writing than the artwork, and the brothers' drawing in this issue (credited to both equally) is effective and understated, suitable to the rather mundane story of a day in the life of a mopey obituary writer.The long-term concept of this series (it's set to run 10 issues) seems to be exploring various moments in this man's life, and based on the ending of this issue I assume there's some sort of supernatural element to come. Although that ending is jarring and somewhat intriguing, everything that comes before it is dull and commonplace (a guy overshadowed by his successful father, stuck in a dead-end job), and the writing is a little choppy. I don't know if the Brazilian creators wrote this in English or had it translated (there's no translator credited), but either way there's an awkwardness to the grammar that seems to me to imply some sort of language barrier. I don't mean to copy edit the comics I read, but shifts in verb tense mid-sentence tend to throw me off.
There may very well be an amazing twist or two down the road that puts this story in a whole new light. But as a first issue, this doesn't grab my attention, nor does it make me want to buy several more issues to see the story come to fruition. These guys are solid artists, but I don't know that their storytelling skills are quite at the same level yet.
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