Writers: Doug Wagner and Brian Stelfreeze
Artist: Brian Stelfreeze
Publisher: Image
Price: $2.99
12 Gauge Comics return with another high-octane girl-crazy The Ride series. Through Image they’ve put out a number of these series and one-shots with a focus on a ‘ride’ as part of the story and slowly a history to these tales has been revealed. The usual protagonists for these stories have been feisty female characters. The ride in question is a 1968 Camaro, though I remain unconvinced so far that it is the same car in all the stories.
This latest story has two focuses. Firstly a group of girls calling themselves the Valkyries are on a road trip in the ‘Ride’ stolen from the father of one of them. The stealing of the car leads to problems for the father and a need to head back for the girls. So far this story has been the focus with a cliff-hanger for the end of the first issue and the preview pages for next suggesting that things go rapidly downhill for the girls. All three protagonists have a hook to their characters; one is the reason they took the car, one is the daughter of the owner with her own family issues and the third has self harm issues. In one issue they are all identifiable and though they could definitely do with more definition, particularly around their history and what precisely their being Valkyries means, they do not come across as the ciphers one might expect.
The second focus is a return to a character from some of the previous stories, Laci. Given her prominence on the front cover by Jason Pearson, her importance to the story must increase rapidly as in this first issue we get a few pages of her looking out for some nuns and still trying to reconcile her nature with how the nuns expect her to act. This side of the story is less effective as it offers little for a new reader to grab hold of and run with. The Ride stories until now have always been able to be read as separate stories and with this added continuity behind them it would be unfortunate if their accessibility is diminished.
The art as per usual is done by one of Gaijin studios, in this case Brian Stelfreeze, who I don’t think ever has an off day. The characters all look unique, the action is clear and interesting and you know that when the fights start he will produce some stunning work. The Ride always delivers on the art side. So far on the story side it remains up in the air. Given we are a third of the way through the story the dual focus is more of a distraction, but if issue 2 pulls both strands together then the whole will work. The preview pages for issue 2 quite clearly show that the action is just moments away and it’s in the action that The Ride normally contains its strongest element.
More information: 12gaugecomics
Mark Peyton – has a MA in History and Research from the University of Hull specialising in the Hundred Years War. In a complete departure from that he now runs communications and membership for a UK based Trade Union as well as being a part time writer/journalist.
He is a founding member of Millarworld acting as a moderator and as an editor for Fractal Matter.