Created and Written by Michael Sarrao
Inks by Tom Parrish (Pages 1-11) and Giuseppe Pica (Pages 12-22)
Letters and Design by Abraham Hunter
Artwork by Matthew Leporacci
Colors by Giuseppe Pica
I have to say that it’s a great time to be alive if you happen to be an indie comic book fan. It seems that there are new and incredible projects abound almost every day, especially on Kickstarter. Kickstarter has drained my disposable income with a fierce verocity but unlike other things that take and never give back my Kickstarter backs have been paying off in droves with seriously inspirational indie comics.
S.I.D. is right up my alley in more than one aspect; first I love Sci-Fi probably the most out of all comic genres, second I appreciate witty and amusing writing that is lively and upbeat. S.I.D is a very funny character with an equally funny supporting cast that deliver punchline after punchline from start to finish. The Sci-Fi approach of a Special Intergalactic Detective searching for technology that humanity isn’t ready for is just different enough to be interesting but firmly placed within an already established Sci-Fi idea of aliens living among us to feel new yet comfortable. Although I give much credit for the original idea I have to admit that the wit and humor of the dialog and character development is what really stands out the most. Sarrao has a bright tone to the book that is highlighted in every panel, be it dialog or caption. For my money I find this style of writing refreshing and almost out of the ordinary for most Sci-Fi that is either serious or horror based in tone and feel.
The ability of some artists never cease to amaze me. I know that being an artist is time consuming in both working and practicing the craft but with the seamless transfer of artist talent I can tell that Parrish, Pica and Leporacci are about as professional as it gets. Leporacci has a distinctive style that probably made it easy for Parrish and Pica to ink because I continually swapped back and forth from pages inked by both guys and I never saw anything that stood out to make it look different. The ink continuity is superb and I also have to imagine that if it wasn’t for the professional level inking that Pica’s coloring would have been off in some way as well but the colors are consistent from first page to last. Over the course of the book I found myself chuckling at not just the dialog but the facial expressions of S.I.D. The continuity of art isn’t the only thing in line, these artists have captured the tone of the dialog and put it on the pages and rounded out the character’s character. I would say to other artists, take note; this is how you bring tone and wit from a character’s personality and put on display visually.
Last but not least I always try to talk about the unsung heroes of comic book creation, the letterers. Letterers have a hard job and at the risk of sounding like a broken record when they do stuff right they do it really right but when they do it wrong boy do they do it wrong. This is very clear case of a letterer that is trying to separate himself from the average and really put his mark on the indie creator world. Hunter does a few things that really stand out to me and he does them well. The font choice is perfect but is also unique for the dialog versus the captions. It’s similar but different and gives the two a different enough flavor to be exciting but consistent. I appreciate a little difference but the fact that their similar doesn’t take away from the art and make me wonder what he was thinking, the difference is subtle and needed to keep the eyes focused on the difference between caption and dialog. I think what I find most unique and the smartest add is the fact that S.I.D has green dialog balloons. The dialog balloon being green is just another piece of the humor puzzle and is almost a corner piece in this flow of the book. I seriously enjoyed the fact that S.I.D’s dialog balloon was different because it continued the continuity in feel of not just an alien being different but also with the humor because for some reason I feel like the green balloon makes it funnier.
If you liked this review and want to check out SID you can visit its Kickstarter, it only has a little over a week left so get on it soon and let me know if you find the dialog boxes to add to the humor or if you think I’m just crazy!
