Review: “The Pull” from Working Class Geeks

What do you get when you put five geeks, great art, and the concept of gravity on the same webpage? The answer is The Pull, a new chain webcomic from Working Class Geeks.

So far, The Pull has centered on the adventures and misadventures of Paul, a man who appears fairly ordinary at first—except for the fact that he’s alone in a heap of what appears to be post-apocalyptic ruins of an exploded New York City. He gets sucked through a crystal to a strange land where his power over gravity is revealed, and he finds that he is much more important than he had previously thought: suddenly, Paul is a superhero.

A new page is added to this graphic adventure every Wednesday, and the writers rotate, each in turn adding his own twist to the story. The fact that only one person edits and illustrates it adds to the continuity, and there is careful editing to make sure that it is somewhat cohesive, although it is still impossible to tell where the story will go next.

So far, The Pull is exciting and definitely unpredictable. The nature of the plot has changed often enough that it does betray a bit of the chain style in which it is written, but also keeps up the excitement—suddenly there’s a talking crystal, and then it’s not just a crystal but a door into another world. The story is a little hard to follow when the plot shifts so dramatically and it rushes awkwardly in some places, but as it has built itself up more and gained a little more stability, The Pull has become easier to follow as a wild and unpredictable adventure.

One of the best features is how much heart is put into this. Instead of a single independent writer who is committed to making the comic work, this is a team of people taking turns, writing one page at a time. With this method, every page gets special attention and significance, and it’s turning out to be a quality webcomic over all.

It’s hard to say where this comic is going and what it’s going to look like in the end, but judging by the first 37 pages already up, it’s definitely going to be exciting. I wouldn’t recommend The Pull to families because it has already included some language, nudity, and quite a bit of rough violence, but it’s definitely a fun read if you want some excitement and a story that will definitely break your expectations. Plus, since a new page is added to it every Wednesday, the adventure is growing at a fun and exciting pace, and it’s a great thing to check out every so often to see the latest update. Also, Working Class Geeks has more recently begun another very experimental project–a series of one-page mini comics collectively called One Shot, a series which is updated Mondays and definitely worth a look if you’re getting impatient waiting for The Pull to be updated.