1996: Esc

Esc (1996) #1-2 by Stefan Petrucha, Marc Caribé and others

Not only is this the only non-Elementals book published by Comico after the ’93 hiatus, but it’s also … *gasp* NOT A SUPER HERO BOOK! According to the editorial, at least, this is genuine science fiction. (Based on an un-produced movie script by Clyde Ware, apparently.) So let’s look:

Well, that looks kinda OK, doesn’t it? Into the plot all at once without any preamble, and we seem to be establishing some interesting characters, perhaps…

Sometimes it’s hard to describe an artist’s style, but that’s not the case here. The style here is Bill Sienkiewicz. Bill Sienkiewicz and nothing else. So this makes me wonder whether Marc Caribé worked as an assistant for him or something? Let’s google.

Huh! I can’t find anything. And furthermore, comics.org says that this is the only comic book Caribé did? That just sounds really unlikely to me. Is Marc Caribé a pseudonym, perhaps? The name kinda looks fake, doesn’t it?

But if that’s the case, who is the artist really? I mean, even if some of the figures here look a bit wonky, the rendering is quite accomplished (even if very derivative). How odd.

Anyway, remember the bit about this not being a super-hero book? Well, it turns out that the central character has… you guessed it: Super powers.

Caribé’s artwork is intriguing, and he’s certainly really, really into rendering hair. Especially wispy, curly hair. But it’s pretty difficult to tell the characters apart.

Heh, that t-shirt kinda looks fake. And XL only!

Hey, that’s a nice painting on this ad. Who’s it by? Doesn’t say.

Oh, the story… it’s about that mysterious guy who seems to be stopping criminals from criminaling by using his super powers. (Did I mention that this isn’t a super-hero book?) And then there’s some cops that try to figure out what’s up. It’s not a very original plot, and the characters have little character, but it’s not awful.

Caribé does the Sienkiewicz rendering well, but he’s got a problem with placing characters in a space. For instance, in the third panel — where is that guy supposed to be in relation to the woman? And why does their hair colour change all the time?

And then, unfortunately, we get a huge infodump that explains everything, which just takes the fun out of things.

And we get an ad for the next issue — which was never published, because Comico went under again.

This book may not be… a masterpiece or anything. Or entirely competent. But it was pretty OK? And it was fun looking at all the cribbed Sienkiewicz art styles.

Overstreet’s FAN #14, page #27:

COMICO
From Stefan Petrucha
(regular writer on the X-Files
comic) and X-Files cover artist
Miran Kim comes .
When a computer program cre-
ates a new life form that runs
amok in a futuristic Los
Angeles, it’s up to Sara Kelley to
put a stop to its hijinks in this
blend of supernatural thriller,
computer cyber-technology
and exciting police drama.
Each of the four issues is fully
painted by Marc Caribe. It’s
on stands now.

That’s the only mention of Marc Caribé on kwakk.info. Incredible.

The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide #2, page #226:

ESC attempts to pass itself off as something for the newly
sophisticated comics fan ready for real science-fiction rather
than mythology, which is insultingly patronising to start
with. This is based on some Hollywood chancer’s screenplay
in which he feebly attempts to paste some trendy virtual
reality ideas onto an out of control vigilante story not fit for
one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s more low-rent efforts. Bad
draughtsmanship smothered in post-Bill Sienkiewicz flashy
effects doesn’t help it at all. Appalling rubbish.~GK

Heh heh. Harsh! I liked the “some Hollywood chancer”. I was also thinking about Terminator while reading the book…

This book got almost no press and absolutely no reviews at the time. And… there are no reviews of it on the interwebs, either. So it’s kinda… lost media.