The S Factor

So this week has been a bit of a Samuel George London week for me. After my appearance on Sam's podcast, Comics for the Apocalypse, I got ahold of copies of both the Milford Green saga and the S Factor when I was asked if I'd read then yet and, sadly, I had to admit not.

Unfortunately, despite that event having been a few months ago, I'm sad to say that I still hadn't gotten around to reading either title ...

... until now.

With Sam and creative partner Mikael Hankonen's launch of their kickstarter for the Milford Green collected edition, I figured now was a perfect time to actually read both titles. Milford Green I've talked about over at Pipedream Comics but we'll get to that later. For now, let's talk about the S Factor.

The S Factor tells the story of Darkfox, a Batman-esque vigilante operating in London who struggles with the loss of her former sidekick, Redfox, decades before during an encounter with super villains. Now though, Darkfox is about to lose her current sidekick, Greyfox, to a wholly different tragedy; reality TV. Now, Greyfox is 'the Symbol', the lead in a Bachelor-style Superhero dating show called the S Factor, with twelve of the world's most eligible super heroines vying for his attention. However, all is not as it seems as a shadowy executive pulls the strings from behind the scenes, using this show to destroy superheroes once and for all.

Now I enjoyed S Factor. It was a good story that I thought really tried to play on the absurdity of reality television that often think is the case when I (on the odd occasion) watch such things. Moments like the plan to add flames to the Symbol's (Greyfox's on screen persona) boots "in post" or the moment where two of the contestants are asked to "do their first kiss again" I thought were hilarious in its (most likely real) absurdity. The S Factor felt very satirical in it's depiction of reality television in a similar fashion that it reminded me of Image Comics' America's Got Powers from ... a decade (?) ago with a touch of Monkeybrain's Insufferable.

However, this reminder was both a blessing and a curse for me. America's Got Powers was, similarly, an enjoyable enough read but I did also struggle with it, probably due to my apathy towards reality Television. However, with the S Factor, I really did feel stuff was missing.

The first of those 'things' was the ending, which came off as too abrupt for my liking. This wasn't helped by the almost eleventh hour addition of a superheroes/law enforcement revelation, which felt a little tacked on as it had no (well, minimal) focus up until that point. The other 'thing was that, I think, this series was focused on the wrong hook and that more time should have been put towards the question of 'who is behind the S Factor?' and less about the show itself (like Miss Congeniality but a little less comedic).

I feel like I'm being nothing but negative here and nothing is further from the truth. The fact is, despite it's flaws, S Factor still has pretty cool strengths, chief among them being Chris Panda's gorgeous artwork, which made me think of it as Jamie McKelvie/Mike Allred mash-up style. He also created an awesome host for the show who I thought looked the spit of Tom Hiddleston.

And the scripting held up in places too, such as the character of Darkfox who, despite being an obvious Batman analogue, came across as a complex and interesting character in her own right. As a result, it makes me wish we'd gotten more of the Darkfox/Redfox dynamic because I found that to be the most interesting parts of the book, as this ghost literally haunting Darkfox as she sought the truth. Finally, the Thespians were, in my opinion, an inspired design and concept, one worthy of a Batman 66-esque villain comparison (I only wish we could see more of their combined backstory).

So, in short, I thought the S Factor was a fun read for what it was and, despite some flaws, a good effort by Sam and Chris. Therefore, I'm certainly glad to have gotten the chance to read it although, unlike Arnie on the Running Man, I probably wouldn't come back for a re-run.

Oh, and before I forget ...

Well it isn't really a 'forgotten because, well, I mentioned it at the beginning of my post. However, as it is a review for Pipedream I guess thus is where it goes. 

So, as I mentioned, I also reviewed Milford Green this week, Samuel George London's other comic series (this time with Mikael Hankonen). Now this series I really enjoyed, as it was such a elegantly told story with some real beauty to it, both in the script and the art.

I think the biggest draw for me was the characters who felt so heartfelt and genuine, particularly in their relationships to each other. This isn't the case with all characters (e.g. the Villains) but for many of the protagonists moments like Rongara's final panel were just so beautiful that it hit me.

Of course, a lot of that has to go to the art as much of the story as the art has a real classy, Victorian vibe but still manages to look futuristic when necessary without being too jarring.

Now, I probably haven't said everything I could say but the review would certainly do that job for me. However, Milford Green really is a gorgeous series and, I think, will turn out to be an incredibly awesome collected edition once the kickstarter succeeds. I'll be honest, If I had to pick a series out of Sam's to recommend it would certainly be this one.

So that's another week done and more Comics read as well as more issues from beginning of the year 'to read' list (which is starting to become something or a trend in recent weeks). Fortunately, next week will continue that trend as the comic shops (well mine) re-opened in Britain and so that means my pull list has been picked up!!