Local Man might be Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs’ tribute to the early days of Image Comics, but it’s also played with different genres. The first volume, “Heartland”, is a superhero-tinged noir. The second, “The Dry Season”, brought in a touch of the supernatural – including a sequence that saw protagonist Jack Xaver breaking the fourth wall and taking a walk through the letter and ad pages at the end of the books. Now in the latest storyline, Seeley and Fleecs decide to go the horror route.
Jack’s recently returned to his hometown of Farmington to discover that it’s been taken over by a cult that he faced back when he was Crossjack. With nothing but his dog Pepper and superpowered waitress Rudy by his side, Jack decides to even the playing field by seeking out the demonic entity the Fright. But that means he’ll have to break into a government facility and exhuming the corpse of Frightside, his old enemy/host for the Fright.
Already the horror vibes are strong, and Seeley and Fleecs keep increasing a sense of dread throughout the issue. Frightside’s body is being held in a rundown house…on the edge of snow-covered Farmington. There’s also the Fright itself: a swirling mass of shadows that contains a multitude of glowing golden eyes and teeth, and will literally warp your body into a distorted version of itself…if it doesn’t slice you into ribbons first. Fleecs’ artwork renders all of this imagery, particularly the Fright, in horrific detail, and Brad Simpson’s color art paints a gloomy picture with dark blues and sickly greens, as well as the eldritch black that makes up the Shape’s body.
In the backup story, Seeley and Fleecs explore Jack’s connection to one of his other Third Gen members: the Silicon Valley billionaire turned vigilante Cutting Edge. Not only does this backup story feature a surprising tie to the main event, it also continues Local Man’s trend of taking a different look at the tropes that accompanied ’90s-era Image books. In this case, it’s the willingness to take a more lethal approach when dealing with foes; while that might be a pragmatic solution, it also shows an immense lack of empathy – and a lack of foresight. I also continue to admire how Seeley’s artwork manages to capture that ’90s flair; no one can tell me that Cutting Edge isn’t a homage to Cyberforce’s Ripclaw (it wouldn’t be the first Cyberforce shoutout in the book, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.)
Local Man #11 not only handles the switching up of genres, but it also continues to show how its creators can craft a compelling, original story that’s worth picking up. It’s also a great example of why this book more than earned its Eisner nomination.
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