Living Up To Expectations: Air #1

First Impressions are always hard, whether it be with your teacher, your girlfriend's parents, and first issues of any comic. Today, I picked Air, written by G. Willow Wilson (OGN Cairo) and M.K. Perker (OGN Cairo), and was the first comic I read out of my stack. I don't know whether it was the stunning pencils by Perker or the sheer shock of a stewardess free falling, but needless to say it sparked interest. Enter the mind of acrophobe flight attendant Blythe Cameron, as she battles multiple terrorist groups and her fear of heights. At the beginning of the issue, Wilson uses poetry and narrative to portray the story of Blythe and the dangerous world of the airline industry. A great aspect to this comic, is the interesting look into the mind of a flight attendant, especially post 9/11. And although the plot of is obscure interesting characters are established and the reader can connect and actually care for their fate. Perker's pencils are also very detailed and are reminiscent of Darick Robertson and Pia Guerra but more influenced than copied. Despite the excellent wordsmanship and art the overall story was a little fast paced. Scenes seem to fly by and some parts were choppy but in a first issue things are always fast paced so that the tone of the story can be established. But overall art receives four dorks out of five and story receives three dorks out of five (Yes, a new system not stars or points…dorks). My mind was not blown by this issue but was intriguing enough for me to get the second issue. So go out to your local comic store a pick it up It’s worth the good old price of $2.99 and deserves to receive the mantle of a Vertigo book.