The Skeptics #1

Writer: Tini Howard
Pencils & Inks: Devaki Neogi
Colors: Jen Hickman
Letters: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Black Mask

The Skeptics follows two youngsters in the 60's who try to convince the US government that they have superpowers. This after the USSR claims to have . The setting and the premise of the book made me want to check it out, and considering how good most Black Mask books have been recently I was really looking forward to this book.

The first thing that you notice while reading on the book is how on point the setting is. From clothing to hairstyles, the fashion is very stylized and Devaki Neogi goes a long way to show that this story is taking place in the 60's. However I think as far as storytelling through the images goes, the artist could still be better. It particularly bothered me on the cliffhanger where the protagonists have a big realization, but the subject of that realization is out of focus so it's not sold to the reader as strongly as it should be. I really loved Jen Hickman's coloring. It complement the fashion and the design on Devaki Neogi's art while also giving us a lot of gaudy colours that pop out of the page. The backgrounds are often simplified, so those colours always put the focus back on the characters. The lettering is also solid, I liked Bidikar's use of fonts when the books alludes to the USSR so hopefully we see more of that.

The plot itself was interesting. Our protagonists are a black woman and a British man and it's clear from the start of the book that they're completely different people to the people examining them. Dr. Santaclara, their mentor, faces a lot of prejudice and in the first 10 or 15 pages we see her colleagues undermine and undervalue her a lot. Even though they're not in conflict with each other there's a gulf between them and the US government stand-ins that only grows as the book goes along. Anyways, about halfway in, everything gets really confusing really fast and there's a flashback in there which really threw me off for a minute. The book does have a good sense of humour and that really helps keeping things entertaining while we try to piece everything together.

The Skeptics #1 is a book full of intrigue and mystery. I loved the style of the art in this book, but I thought certain beats could've been done more effectively. It did leave me puzzled and with a lot of questions about where this is going, so I'll be looking forward to the second issue.