Mesmo Delivery – Review

By Rafael Grampa (Writer & Artist) and Marcus Penna (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I decided to pick up Mesmo Delivery after seeing the slick looking preview pages and hearing nothing but good things about the book for the past month or so. So is Rafael Grampa’s first solo work a true indie gem or is it a victim of the dreaded hype machine? Read on to find out.

The Story: Mesmo Delivery follows two men, a burly truck driver and a company hand, as they make their way through a rural town to deliver a package to its intended destination. The only company rule is that the back of the truck must remain closed so that the package cannot be seen by the driver or anyone else. As you might have guessed, things don’t exactly go smoothly. Rufo, the truck driver, finds himself in way over his head upon accepting a bet with a local and soon all hell breaks loose in two very different ways.

What’s Good: Part mystery, part thriller, and part gory action-horror story, Mesmo is one trippy trucker tale. It easily overcomes a few generic plot points by providing a mystery laced with a number of unexpected twists and buckets of well-executed gore. Trust me when I say that, in both style and execution, you haven’t seen anything quite like Mesmo Delivery.

Rafael Grampa’s kinetic, well-choreographed visuals offer a unique mixture of meticulous detail, the surreal, and disturbing hyper-violence. As strange as that may sound, the style proves to be a perfect fit for a story that definitely takes a few readings to fully appreciate. By revealing some, but not all of the necessary information, Grampa manages to transform a fairly basic trucker tale into something incredibly compelling.

What’s Not So Good: Simply put, Mesmo Delivery is not a book for everyone. The insanely graphic violence and a few odd shots featuring the female anatomy keep it strictly for a more mature audience. In addition, I can easily imagine more than a few readers being frustrated by the obtuse story and the lack of any concrete resolution, especially for a comic that goes for around twelve bucks.

Conclusion: While it is almost certain to be one of the most divisive releases of the year, there is no denying how impressive the presentation and artistic execution displayed in Mesmo Delivery. Personally, I found the book to be an imaginative, cinematic mix of genres that worked on a number of levels. As such, I highly recommend it to mature readers looking for something quite a bit different from the usual Marvel or DC fare.

Grade: A-

-Kyle Posluszny