IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Gail Simone
ART/COLORS: Cat Staggs
LETTERS: Simon Bowland
COVER: Cat Staggs
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (June 2017)
Rated “M/ Mature”
Crosswind is a comic book series created by artist Cat Staggs and writer Gail Simone. Published by Image Comics, the series debuted in the summer of 2017. Crosswind focuses on a hit man and a housewife caught in a body-swapping paradox.
Crosswind #1 introduces two disparate souls. The first is Cason Ray Bennett, a slick and ruthless Chicago-based hit man. The second is Juniper “June” Elanore Blue, a downtrodden Seattle housewife. Cason has to pop-a-cap in his friend, Del, to appease his boss, Cruz. June has to deal with a philandering husband, Jim, and a sullen stepson, Kelly. Now, at the most inconvenient of inconvenient times, things get crossed for Cason and June.
I have often suspected that if Gail Simone were a man named Gale Simone, she/he would get the kind of comic book writing gigs from Mavel and DC Comics that Nick Spencer, Cullen Bunn, Scott Snyder and Tom King get. I say that knowing that Simone has generally done quite well with DC Comics.
With Crosswind, I think that Simone will show just how inventive a writer she is or is not. The fictional conceit of two people switching bodies is so well-worn as a supernatural plot that it is frankly tiresome. Films have explored the idea of people's souls switching bodies for decades, the most famous probably being the two versions of Walt Disney's Freaky Friday. So many television series have had at least one episode in which body-swapping played a prominent role; I think the original “Star Trek” TV series used it or something similar several times. So what's coming here, Ms. Simone?
Cat Staggs, series artist and colorist, delivers some really work with this first issue. Everything in her graphical storytelling is urgent and edgy, and the story jumps off the page as if it is trying to grab the reader. Staggs certainly grabs me, and the emotions resonate. For instance, June is being sexually harassed by a group of young men who are her neighbors. June's discomfort and the young men's vulgarity feel real; Staggs delivers in a way that could make the readers think that they are witnessing an actual in-progress assault.
I am surprised by Crosswind #1. I really did not expect much from it, but I want to read more.
8 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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