Don and Randy stop by the city of San Fiasco to look in on its super-villains and super-heroes in Nerve Bomb.
Randy:
Super-hero parody is not an untouched topic amongst the small press, and Nerve Bomb is another entry into that venerable slice of the genre.
Don:
This black-and-white publication is a little wider than a standard comic book, but it's definitely in the right ball park. For a small-press effort, the productions values are high, the real questions are whether or not the book is (a) unique and (b) entertaining. I'd have to say "nay" on the former, and a qualified "yea" on the latter.
Nerve Bomb #0
written and illustrated by James S. Baker
Don:
The city of San Fiasco cries out for protectors, and the odd superhuman agent known as Big Suit is in charge of hiring the right heroes for the job. When a plethora of super-villains meet to join forces and a giant grandmother runs amok the downtown core, he can think of no other duo better suited for the tasks at hand than... Rocket Rabbit and the Professor! Rocket Rabbit is a super-strong robotic hare whose ears are rocket engines, and the Professor is the buxom genius who created him and tends to his mechanical needs.
Randy:
Whenever a creator decides to tackle comedy, especially super-hero parody, there's a risk of the jokes seeming stale, or at the very least like the same kind of thing we've seen before. That was kind of my reaction to Nerve Bomb, which gave me a few chuckles but which reads very much like every other super-hero parody book I've ever read.
Don:
The easiest comparison here is to The Tick. Rocket Rabbit is powerful but also goofy, and the Professor is the voice of reason whose most noticeable attributes are far from intellectual ones. Baker isn't doing anything new at all here, but some of the hero and villain concepts he throws at the reader here are amusing, but only fleetingly so.
Randy:
Baker spends a fair amount of time here on setting things up, and unfortunately doesn't really deliver any payoff. Much of the setup is actually just introducing a ton of characters with gag names, many of whom get taken down by the heroes a page or two after they get introduced. It's clear that Baker is having a lot of fun here, introducing some entertaining characters like Dick Pump and Silicon Valerie, porn stars turned cyber-villains, or the heroic Omar Sheriff, but there's no story to hang these characters on. Indeed, there's not much character to hang the book on, either... just cutesy names and visual designs.
Don:
Baker's script is definitely lacking in focus. The opening sequence tells no story at all, and doesn't even touch upon the story's protagonists. It's a series of one-panel gags. The story really doesn't get underway until about halfway through the piece, and it makes for a scattered read. Baker puts joke-making before plotting, and it's too bad. Though familiar, he has the makings of a solid humor book here.
Randy:
It is on the design side that Nerve Bomb shines, actually. Though the lower grade paper and greyscale printing often makes the book look a little cheap, and much of it printed too dark, Baker clearly has a great sense of design. I particularly enjoyed his straightforward designs for Rocket Rabbit and the Professor, the two main heroes of the story, although I have to credit him with a really fun idea in the giant robotic granny as well.
Don:
Baker's visual style here is something of a mish-mash of influences. I definitely see a likeness to Jack (Mad) Davis's style at play here, but there's also a Phil (Girl Genius) Foglio vibe on the go as well. Baker has a flair for character design, as Randy notes, and he includes a couple of excellent, big-screen-scope scenes that show off a strong eye for perspective as well. I thought the rougher paper quality and heavy inks worked well with Baker's sketchy, raw style.
Randy:
Nerve Bomb has clear, straightforward visual storytelling and Baker has plenty of fun ideas, but there's just not much substance to be found in this zero issue. Baker introduces about two dozen characters here, when he really only needs three or four, and beyond some mindless action and only mildly funny puns, the book doesn't really seem to have a direction.
Don:
I have to agree, but I also have to give Baker credit for his unbridled creativity and the solid foundation he's established here for the property. He needs to rein in his storytelling, yes, but he shows promise as well.