Publisher: Short Fuse Media Group
Writer: Daniel Kalban
Artist:Dody Eka
Inker: Tebe Andry
Colorist: Warnia Sahadewa
Letterer: Matt Bowers
American Dreams is a superhero comic based In an alternate history of the 20th century, centered around aspiring illustrator, and Jewish immigrant, Jake Gold. Gold dreams of being an illustrator, but lives with the reality of working in a sweatshop to support his family. When he isn’t working his day job, he’s often involved in rival gang activity. Despite this harsh reality, Thomas Edison aims to make his goals a reality by using the designs used by then employee, Nikola Tesla to harness power from another dimension. Dreams and reality collide as the lives of Jake, Edison, and New York are changed forever!
It’s always a mix bag when reading indie comics. Some indie comics don’t find their feet until issue 2 or 3, but every now and then, some books surprise and garner interest right at the start of their first issue. Thankfully, this is one of books that gets you right from the start. While this is a superhero book, it doesn’t rush into superheroics right off the bat. That’s all thanks to Daniel Kalban’s efforts to tell a tight story about character rather than pure spectacle.
Kalban goes to great lengths to introduce readers to Jake, and the world he lives in as a Jewish immigrant living in the 1900’s. For anyone that knows their general history of comic book creators and superheroes. Jake is very much a representative of many illustrators of that time that tried to pursue a living working in art, namely comics. It’s easy to see why Kalban would choose this as an element to Jake’s motivations as a character. One might say that in some cases, Jake might remind people of Jack Kirby, who was an illustrator, that worked on comics at a time when it was looked down upon, but when it came time to fight in the streets, was always ready to tussle.
Jake is a likeable character that is just trying to do right by his family, but struggles to pursue his dream. It’s a theme that many can relate to in this day and age of any color, or creed. Aside from Jake, there are other characters that Kalban plays into the story that are all based on historical figures such as Thomas Edison, JP Morgan, Harry Houdini among others. He does an expert job at weaving these characters narratives together, showing how each of these characters intersect in one fashion or another, which makes for an appealing read. The story is tight and never forgets to focus on these characters and their motivations, making it worth the time to invest reading the chain of events that unfold throughout the book.
The art done by Dody Eka, coupled with Tebe Andry’s inks and Warina Sahadewa’s colors is stellar. They do a good job working together in tandem to bring the story to life, giving the book a visual flair that exudes the essence of its setting and time. The layouts by Eka are beautifully done, and the inks and colors that accompany it really make this book shine as much as the writing. Matt Bowers does a decent job lettering the book. There are some pages where the lettering sometimes clutters the art, but not so much so that it detracts from the book, as it serves its purpose to guide the reader through the story as it should. Overall, this was a surprisingly great start to a promising comic book series! I highly recommend giving this book a shot. If you’re a fan of Captain America and Superman, a superhero fan, or a curious reader that’s looking for something a little different, then I think this book will scratch that itch. I definitely recommend checking this book out. I look forward to the next issue!
You can read my reviews for American Dreams issues 2 and 3 by clicking the link below.
American Dreams #2 Review: https://thecomicssurfer.blogspot.com/2021/04/american-dreams-2-review-by-anthony.html
American Dreams #3 Review: https://thecomicssurfer.blogspot.com/2021/04/american-dreams-issue-3-review-by.html
No comments:
Post a Comment