Turf #3 – Review

By: Jonathan Ross (creator/writer), Tommy Lee Edwards (creator/art) & John Workman (letters)

The Story: A swirling the pot issue as the intrigue between vampires, mobsters and a shipwrecked alien thickens.

What’s Good: Tommy Lee Edwards has just been great in this series.  Every single page is just beautiful.  Some artists convey absurd levels of detail by just drawing lots of little things, but it is amazing that an artist like Edwards can achieve a similar impression of detail with a completely different style that leaves thick and scratchy strokes all over the page.   Wow….  And, the guy never, ever skips on a background.  You do see artists who do little tricks like placing the perspective down low and looking up so the background is the sky (which is easy to draw)….not Edwards.  It is almost like he enjoys drawing bricks, bars, steps, houses, windows, wall panels, etc.  He really gives this title a period feel.

This is a middle issue, since this series has grown from 4 to 5 issues.  As such, we don’t expect stunning revelations but more of an organization of the furniture for the party that should happen in issues #4 and #5.  Ross does an admirable job of getting the players into position: the vampires now have their new leader, the mob may be in league with an alien and the nosey reporter is helping the deposed vamp leader.  Fun all around and it has been nice to watch Ross grow as a comic writer.  Check out Issue #1 compared to this to see how much he’s cutting down on exposition and sometimes allowing Edwards to do the storytelling.

Another highlight of this issue for the true comic aficionado is that it is hand lettered.  Letterers probably have the least luck with the ladies at comic conventions and we often unfairly dismiss their efforts or fail to even mention them.  But, in this issue we get the treat of seeing a creator (Workman) who still letters by hand and it gives the who issue a warm feel as the text feels alive.