Proof Endangered #1 – Review

By: Alex Grecian (writer), Riley Rossmo (artist) & Frank Zigarelli (colors)

The Story: Bigfoot is back as Proof gets started again, picking up pretty much where it left off.

What’s Good: You don’t often get “jumping on points” with ongoing, creator-owned titles (i.e. Image, Vertigo, etc.).  One of the beauties of those types of comics is that they are telling a story rather than a series of adventures where nothing really changes (see: all Marvel & DC superhero comics).  That faithfulness to the story is the best and worst thing about such comic series: They are way more rewarding to read long term, but if you get left behind it is very hard to pick up in the middle and it can feel daunting to “catch up”.  So, it is a neat thing that the creators of Proof have given us this issue that really serves as a jumping on point for new readers.

“New reader” describes me pretty well for this series.  I was aware of the premise, have always enjoyed reading about cryptids and had read a few issues on Comixology, but was nowhere near “caught up”.  There was nothing in this issue that made me feel like I was being left out and the story did a nice job of laying out who all the characters are, what they’re up to while also continuing the ongoing Proof story (or at least seeming to) and laying out new story material.  That’s a lot of tasks accomplished for a single comic issue!

If you have read Proof or Cowboy Ninja Viking, you’ll be familiar with Rossmo’s art and it is on fine display here.  One of the things I really enjoy about his art is that you can see his pencil work in the finished product (lots of artists either erase all of the pencils OR clean it up digitally).  I’m not sure what his artistic process is like, but the end result is a pretty unique look and “unique looks” are part of the reason I enjoy non-Marvel/DC comics as much as I do.  Rossmo also shows in a few panels a great mastery of human anatomy that I really enjoy seeing (especially if you’re sick of seeing superheroes bulging with muscles that don’t really exist in nature).