An ancient demon returns to earth to render havok and seek revenge. Who can stop him? Enter Phoenix, an exiled warrior.
When reading this comic I noticed something strange. A few pages in and I saw something was missing. "Hello", I thought, "Where's the dialogue?". I kept reading, thinking that some was bound to turn up and, sure enough, some did - in random Japanese styled characters that I couldn't read.
Once I got to the end, I realised I was going to have to read it again and focus. This is an Onomatopoeia comic. There is no text, bar the occasional sound effect.
Because there isn't any dialogue whatsoever, everything is told with action and onomatopoeia. Luckily, Suleri is more than up to this and it is always clear what is happening and to who. The characters are distinct and the artwork is consistent throughout.
Suleri's artwork is certainly unique and may not be for everyone, but he has clearly developed his own style. Personally, I love the heavy black and white inkwork Suleri puts in, but it's a far cry from your average comic artwork.
That said, you race through it fairly quickly and have to concentrate very hard to focus on what is going on. The plot moves at breakneck speed and I was very surprised to reach the ending as quickly as I did. I had to read it again several times and all the accompanying text to get a fix on what was happening.
The comic is an experiment, clearly. The question is can you tell a story with art and sound effects alone? I'm not sure. I think it would be very hard to fix the plot in the minds of your audience without dialogue, and certainly they haven't quite pulled it off here. Nearly, but not quite - you still need the accompanying text.
However, there should be massive kudos granted for them even trying it. It's worth a mention that a comic like this would only be attempted by an indie comics company and its in indie that the only true innovation can really be found in comics. Especially now that Marvel are owned by Disney and DC are owned by Warner.
I hope they never stop trying. One day something beautiful will emerge. This isn't it, but getting damn close.
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