I love going deep with comics creators about their books. And as far as such profound examinations go, Joey Esposito and Sean Von Gorman had heaps and heaps to say about The Pedestrian. Seemingly about a silent speedwalking superhero who connects with several ordinary citizens across Summer City, The Pedestrian is so much more still. It’s ultimately meant to be about the evolution of modern cities, the real face of heroism, how we exist in and use communities, the way COVID reconfigured our goals and daily lives, and even why we follow rules.
But the question begs, is The Pedestrian actually good? Does it live up to such a massive feature story and those similarly giant-sized thematic end goals? Can a weird book with ample heart result in a truly important story? And I’d say the (road) signs are quite clear: The Pedestrian is truly special.
That appeal and connection begins, I’d say, with Von Gorman’s art (with colors by Josh Jensen). There’s so much visual might and heft packed into this debut issue. The Pedestrian’s whole design, for instance, is the most effective shorthand possible — it screams a kind of Madman-ian influence without ever feeling so deliberate or overbearing.
The design for Summer City, meanwhile, balances that sharp urban grit with an almost cartoon-like joy; that dynamic is another chance to truly define the feel and tone of this story in an interesting way. The character designs are very much in the same vein — there’s hints and strands of your fave indie comics (Love and Rockets, anyone?) to connect this book to this tradition of richly human, delightfully kitschy stories. But The Pedestrian goes further still, and designs of, say, a possible menacing foe in all black prove that things are not as they seem, and that The Pedestrian is working to build up a mystery bigger than what we’ve seen already.
Von Gorman and Esposito hinted at that in “otherworldliness” in our chat; this Grant Morrison-esque vein of the bizarre that informs something larger about this story’s end goals and message. (It has to do with street signs, it appears.) And we get more solid demonstrations of those energies in the visuals, whether that’s a sharp uptick in action (like a near-car accident) or the knock-off Power Rangers that is The Lazer Titans. These are meant to be concise and compact, and to slowly unveil the proper scope of this universe. And I love that approach — it doesn’t just hint at more story but provide texture and layers that make The Pedestrian so much more oddly compelling and robust in nature. It’s a small demonstration of how much power this world has, and how it’s waiting to pull us in right alongside its residents.
To some extent, this book looking the way it does makes sense. So much so, it almost feels like a red herring — something to make us focus on cracking the code of the world and to figure out just how fantastical this place may be under all those street signs and Chinese restaurants. And when you’re busy looking left, the larger storyline does some truly great and important things.
Variant cover by Michael Allred. Courtesy of Magma Comix.
I really was, as I’d mentioned in the interview, taken aback by the nature of The Pedestrian. Esposito and Von Gorman are clearly pros at the whole interconnected, multi-character story. But The Pedestrian feels like an especially big achievement in this regard. Every character feels extra dynamic and lively — James Tucker is the sour apple we can’t help but root on, and twins Jeremy and Sydney are the right kind of precocious and adventurous to play a big role. These characters are defined/outlined in a way to feel like the best facsimile of actual people, with enough flaws and upsides to really feel earnest and interesting. Similarly, their connections are all real enough so far, and the fact that it’s all centered around/goes through The Pedestrian gives us that intimacy without ruining the structure of this world.
And speaking of the actual The Pedestrian, he’s pretty fleshed out for a guy who doesn’t talk. Like his whole design, his performance across issue #1 is all about utility. We see how he treats stop signs as the same way he treats troubled teens: with the same direct, unwavering commitment to justice and decency. That informs his whole presence across The Pedestrian — he’s this unlikely entity behaving in a very approachable way, and that is so important. If the look of this story hints at so much more, The Pedestrian’s behavior and deeds remind us that this is also a very simple book indeed.
Variant cover by Dean Haspiel. Courtesy of Magma Comix.
Sure, there’s a lot of history and socio-political threads involved, but this book is ultimately about people. More specifically, how we are all heroes — sometimes for a city, sometimes for each other, and even just for ourselves. We have true power, and sometimes that power is dumb, but it’s ours to make a difference. And I can’t wait to see how these characters all connect and coalesce around this idea, and how they eventually align around that simple idea of doing more just because it’s the only thing needed to actually make a difference.
Whatever Esposito and Von Gorman did share in our chat, there’s so much more within The Pedestrian proper. And this debut made that abundantly clear; this is a book whose layers and true skin will take some time to truly delve into and uncover. But for now, we got a really great start, and one that laid the foundation for a very weird but extra warm slice of storytelling magic about so many things (but also maybe just the one thing we all need to hear right now). Let Esposito, Von Gorman, and company speak directly to you through this book — you’ll be delighted to hear what they have to say.
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