No Angel #1 Review

After learning that Adrianne Palicki would be co-writing a series with her brother, Eric Palicki, I was definitely interested. Eric is a proven writer with a solid track record. Adrianne is one of my biggest celebrity crushes. Add in that the book would be an urban fantasy crime story, and No Angel became a lock for my pull list.

The first issue finally arrives this week. Is it good?

No Angel #1 (Black Mask Studios)

Observations

• I’m a sucker for a good war flashback.
• Already liking Hannah. She’s handling this situation a hell of a lot better than most folks would.
• As if funerals weren’t awkward enough…
• Nephillim always make things a lot more complicated.
• I was about to suggest she chase that guy until the spiders crawled out of his eyes.
• It would be nice if discovering a new relative were always this cool.

Is It Good?

We need to talk about the art first, because it is by far the biggest issue.

I hate coming down on a colorist (especially since they usually don’t get enough credit for doing good work), but Jean-Paul Csuka’s colors are killing Ari Syahrazad’s otherwise fantastic pencils/inks. Csuka’s backgrounds are good, but uneven shading on the characters (and their immediate surroundings) was incredibly distracting.

This could just be a personal preference thing on my end. It’s definitely not “bad” enough to make me dislike the issue’s look entirely, but I’m really hoping that Csuka decides to pull back on the light and shadow texturing effects next issue.

Story-wise, the Palickis don’t cover a whole lot of new ground. That being said, they mold a well-worn urban fantasy setup into a cohesive and entertaining narrative. They also have created an excellent lead character in Hannah. If this were a straight up crime procedural, I’d still want to read it from her point of view. Add in the freaky supernatural/horror stuff and I’m definitely hooked.

I’ve read many comics co-written by celebrity writers that were terrible. Thankfully, No Angel looks to buck that trend with a solid premise and well-executed opening chapter (which makes me crush on Adrianne Palicki even harder). If Csuka’s colors can mesh with Syahrazad’s pencils, then this book could end up being something really special.