Fearless Dawn #1
Written & Illustrated by Steve Mannion
Another fantastic addition to my digital library is Fearless Dawn from Asylum Press. Straight from the pages of The Bomb, Fearless Dawn gets her own series fighting drugged up Nazis. I stumbled upon the free 1st issue of The Bomb, and was hooked with the 1950’s art style. Initially, I couldn’t place its familiarity. All I could think of was bomber art from the second world war and beautiful pin-ups that remind me of the gorgeous Betty Page. But the pages of The Bomb are filled with black and white cartoons that were half anatomy lesson, and half MAD Magazine. After a bit of digging (Cause it was driving me ape) I realized the art reminded me of the legendary Wally Wood.
All that aside, Fearless Dawn comes out of the menagerie of cartoons in The Bomb, and her story eventually took center stage in it’s own book. I discovered this all in an hour, but I’m sure the process took Steve Mannion months until Dawn found her voice. Anyways, Dawn decided to fight crime after being bullied in school. She worked out by grabbing an old Atlas workout book (Available in the back of her comics), and got her crime fighting outfit that was discarded (out a window by a local hooker). She eventually winds up fighting crime which leads us to Fearless Dawn #1 (Finally right? I had to fill you in on the back story).
16 years after The Bomb, Dawn gets out of jail, and decides to visit Manatoba. An island of drug enhanced nazi monsters. She is eventually captured after a scuffle, and Old #7 (Think Captain America) is sent in to rescue her. He too is captured, and they must take a 15-minute power enhancer/mutagen to escape.
This book is just enjoyable. In a way it is like holding an old pulp magazine from the 1960s. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m a bit cough older, I would have a sense of fear for being caught with it. It’s not a “dirty” book, but the imagery certainly won’t be used to promote women’s rights. All that aside, it’s tasteful, and given its retro feel, it is more artistic than some of the art I’m seeing in my mainstream capes books. It gives me the same vibe of other pulp magazines like Vamparella, or Creepshow, but it also has a new sense of line and shade. There is something about the artwork that stands out, despite the heavy influence from Wally Wood. The Joe Kubert School grad is able to parrot the styles of the past, but through his story telling style, he is able to put his own spin on it. The mixture of Silver Age plot devices and humorous parody of the situations presented make for an addictive read, and it is quite refreshing from the all-serious books we have today. Sure I’ve blabbed about the art, and not the story, but it is the artwork that made the impression to me, and defined the book. I’ve already downloaded all the issues I can for my comics reading app, and I’m looking forward to reading straight to #4.
Peter Schmeiser – Giggaheim Director
Peter is normally answering several questions everyday about continuity of the DC universe, the status of Spider-man, who has been cast in the latest movies, and what counts as canon in Star Wars. Pete enjoys voicing his opinions on the latest comic books, playing video games, and sharing his wealth of useless comic book knowledge with his friends. The Giggaheim was made to share that.
