“Jaded” (Part 2)
Writers: Tanya Eby & Jason Masters
Artist: Justin Bleep
Publisher: Urban Sequence
Edward fancies himself "Eddy Boom," a megastar DJ. Hooking up a DJing gig at a club, he enlists the help of a few friends, including a "secret weapon" which turns out to be a little girl called T.K. During the party, residue trouble from the previous issue re-emerges in the form of a huge, muscular thug who tries to chat up a breakdancer named Jade. Eddy Boom saves the day and scores attention from the pretty girl, much to the chagrin of the antagonist (who turns out to be a serial killer mentioned last ish)
Separated from Jade and her friends during the melee at the club, Eddy Boom and his own pals walk into a diner, and presto! Jade and co. happen to be there for tacos. Looks like our hero’s found love.
This, the second and concluding installment of the "Jaded" two-parter, flows smoother than the first issue. This could be attributed to the fact that by now, the reader would have gotten used to Eddy and his merry band of friends. A closer look, though, reveals that the script is tighter here, and less “decompressed” than the previous issue’s.
Justin Bleep’s art is highly stylized and obviously informed by hip-hop and graffiti sensibilities – and fits the urban setting of the story like a glove. Razor-sharp lines and exaggerated characters conjure up a world that is distinctly his and his alone. One downside, though, is the art style’s penchant to appear over-exaggerated at times, thereby hurting the mood. Like the visual device where one eye is drawn much bigger than the other to convey certain emotions like perplexity, sudden realization, etc., but is used commonly by Bleep.
The coloring, by Jean-Francois Beaulieu, is on the same level as most of the art: major league. Moods, backgrounds, people and light effects simply have to be seen to be believed. Noteworthy, also, is the lettering supplied by Ed Dukeshire. Dukeshire’s work is lean and spare, and even dares to invoke John Workman at his best. One downer about the lettering, though, is the use of a stark yellow on some caption boxes, resulting in a color-clash which proves distracting.
The dialogue, however, is crisp and grounded in as much reality as a story involving such a motley crew of characters could allow. A particular favorite of mine is when the two groups of friends are forced to run in different directions and Jade looks back at Eddy Boom as he does the same. “He’s gone forever,” thinks the sad dancer as she is comforted by her friend. Eddy, caught in the moment, too, mopes: “She was…like…music to my eyes.” And those are my exact sentiments as I flip back to the beginning of the book for another read, while I wonder how soon it’ll be before book #3 comes out. Bleep and co. have a winner here, only it’s such a shame that it lasts just twelve pages.
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