Comically Challenged: Seven Psychopaths #1

Everyone say “Yay” if you like crazy people! (Yaaaay) Everyone say “Boo” if you hate Nazis! (Boooo) Now let me hear a “Hell Yeah” if you want to see crazy people kill Nazis! (HELL Yeah) Well, I’m sufficiently stoked for this post, aren’t you? Let’s get into it.

We’re talking Seven Psychopaths-written by Fabien Vehlmann and art by Sean Phillips. Boom! Studios released the first issue of his three part mini-series today. So I says to myself, “Self, you like Sean Phillips art on Criminal; why not give this book a try? I mean, the title IS pretty sweet.” How nice that I found myself truly enjoying the book.

Open up in London 1941 with Colonel Thompson, basically a bumbling fool that nearly no one respects. He gets a letter from an old dude in a mental hospital letting him know that he has figured out a way to win the war. Well, might as well check this guy out, right? Old-guy-in-bath-robe says the way to end the war is to assassinate Hitler. Sure, the military has tried but they have a little something called “social mores” and I’d like to think of those as a hinderance for outward thinking. So would old-guy-in-bath-robe. Here’s the plan: get together seven gifted psychopaths and you’ve got yourself a team of fool-proof assassins. You bet.

Well, we have an old-guy-in-bath-robe with a plan. One crazy person down! Next in, Erik Starken-a former German officer that thinks Hitler is telepathically speaking to him. He hears Hitler’s plans for the future, sees unfortunate images in his mind, and would do just about anything to get it to stop. Like…kill Hitler. And then there were two!

Willy Wright (who looks like Vincent Kartheiser from Mad Men) has a startling gift for disguise and mimicry. He’s also narcissistic and a pathological liar to the point of lacking social function. And…three.

Move on to Captain Stewart. One can only assume Captain is not his first name, however awesome that may be. This guy’s just a very dangerous, jaded lover with a broken heart. He’d like to kill himself, but maybe he’d be able to go out a hero and not a murderer.

Last one we catch is Susan. The woman has a gift with a sniper rifle. She also has nervous breakdowns. She also has a baby daughter and no money. Therefore, she has motivation. Just two more to find for our little team.

Well, let me tell you-I wasn’t kidding when I yay’ed for crazy people. I do love the mentally unstable. They just keep you guessing. Never boring. This obviously isn’t the first time a story has been told about a hand-selected team with the mission to kill Nazis or assassinate Hitler.  Inglorious Bastards, maybe?  But you throw in the fact that all of them are certifiably hanging by a thread and it gives it a fresh spin. Down side to Fabien Vehlmann’s writing? Boy, it’s wordy. It’s a little overwhelming when you first look at it but if you push on through it, you’ll find that the pacing makes it palatable.

Now I’ve already said, both here and in a previous post, that Sean Phillips’s is pretty gifted in his artistic ability. He still is, nothing has changed. You know what did change from his work on Criminal? The colorist. His work with Val Staples on Criminal compared to Hubert on Psychopaths-completely different feel. Even though we’re dealing with equally disturbing writing ideas, this book takes a much lighter approach in coloring. It manages to create brighter panels that aren’t weighted down with shadowing and often times takes away from the fine lines that Philipps uses.  In my humble opinion, the contrast detracts something from the story. In addition, there are just far too many panels in the layout. I get that Phillips is talented, but I don’t need to see a guy staring blankly out into space in one panel and have that same guy staring off into space +1 person in the next. Couple the multitude of panels with a lot of words and you get cluttered pages. Quality content, just completely cluttered.

I’m excited to meet our next two crazies! I’m excited to see if the Colonel will get his letterheads and labels with the code name Operation: Seven Psychos. I’m excited to see Hitler die! You should be too. It’s a pretty high price point at $3.99 but you need to pick it up. Who doesn’t like a team of wild-cards?