Reality Check

Willard Penn, after suffering through years of rejection by publishers, finally has a hit with his new comic, Dark Hour. But on the night of his publishing deadline, Willard finds out that Dark Hour has somehow become real. Unsatisfied with how he is being written, Dark Hour refuses to return until he’s been rewritten to his own liking. Specifically, he wants Willard to write him a soul mate. Like most metafictional set pieces where characters fight back for better representation and a juicier story line, Brunswick’s comic suffers from clichés and some plot predictabilities. But Willard’s backstory, especially his reasons for writing as a means of escape, is touching and genuine. It also opens up a good dialogue about the story-making process and the thin line between reality and fantasy. Bogdanovic’s illustrations fittingly resemble the very action comics the story is parodying, complete with dark shadows and sweeping action shots. Reality Check should hit the mark for readers looking for something slightly off-kilter from the usual superhero fare. --Peter Blenski