There’s Something Wrong with Patrick Todd is a new comics series from Ed Brisson and Gavin Guidry that captures your attention from the very first page. Its third issue is out this week, which Ed Brisson told AIPT is only part of an extensive plan for the series, bringing a dangerous threat closer to Patrick Todd. Does he deserve the vengeance this strange man wishes upon him?
There’s Something Wrong with Patrick Todd continues to intrigue, drawing the reader closer to the detective getting closer to Patrick Todd’s bank robbery tactics. The problem is that murders are popping up that seem connected to him, and Patrick Todd is the main suspect. This issue opens with the detective, who can’t even hold down his breakfast with his family due to the horrors he’s recently witnessed. It’s an excellent way to remind us of where the character is in his headspace while economically reminding us of the deadly stakes in play in this story.
Cut to Patrick Todd on a park bench waiting for the killer to arrive. The killer put flyers up all over town to draw Patrick Todd out, but unfortunately for Patrick Todd, he doesn’t know what this man wants or even that he is a threat. Given we know so little about the character, but he knows more than we do about Patrick Todd, it’s an interesting interaction. It leads to a deadly chase that sheds light on what is going on, but the mystery persists. One can see Patrick Todd may be part of a family that has done terrible things, or at the very least, he was born to be a hero but has no details about it at all.
Poor Patrick, always alone.
Credit: AfterShock
If there were any faults in this issue, it lies with the villain, who seems too powerful and impossible to stop simply because the plot demands it. The chase is exciting, but a single dude with a machete should be easy to stop, right? There isn’t much information to go on about his abilities–maybe he has powers too–but at face value, he seems overly powerful and unstoppable just because. At this juncture, his threat level isn’t earned.
Gavin Guidry’s pencils capture the reality of every moment with highly detailed art. He also adds a calmness to specific scenes, which enhances the erratic nature of the villain. Like in real life, Guidry’s lines give the sense that everything is usually quite calm, but underneath the surface is a danger and threat we can’t always see. Pacing is the name of the game in this issue, with great layouts to slow things down, speed them back up, and slow them down again.
Chris O’Halloran colors the issue quite well, using stark contrasts to draw your eye to Guidry’s characters. Subtle details in changes in the color of grass or even in the villain’s cloak add a dynamic nature to everything on the page. Even Patrick Todd’s hair has a few mixed hues going on.
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou’s letters continue to add a whole other dynamic to the pages. You can get a sense of weariness when the detective says “I…” in the opening scene thanks to the tail of the word balloon waving a certain way or in another scene, the edgy weirdness of the villain due to the zig-zaggy tails on word balloons. There’s a lot to take in from cover to cover.
There’s Something Wrong with Patrick Todd #3 is a strongly crafted third issue, bringing our protagonist face to face with the main villain, further focusing on the detective’s unease with the violence and hinting at a larger secret yet to be revealed. All that wrapped in a clean-lined art style, great colors, and letters, and you have a triple-A caliber comic series in the works.
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