Shade the Changing Girl #1

Writer: Cecil Castelucci
Artist: Marley Zarcone
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: DC

Young Animal has had an interesting launch. Both of their published books so far are unapologetically unconventional and somewhat incomprehensible. This could be a off-putting for most readers, especially because even though Shade and Doom Patrol had a large fanbase during their 90s runs, they're being introduced to a new audience, but in spite of that the debut issues that they've released stand out because of the talent of its creative teams.

The art is the main reason why this book in particular succeeds, Marley Zarcone's angular lines and Kelly Fitzpatrick's explosive colors give this book a specific and unique style since the very first page. Young Animal has been very smart to associate itself with fantastic artists, even just the people who are doing variants for their books. This book comes with variants by Tula Lotay (!) and Duncan Fegredo (!), while Doom Patrol had Gilbert Hernandez (!!!) doing one of its barrage of covers. But the interior art in both of them is incredible as well. I wasn't familiar with Zarcone before reading this book but her work is a revelation. There's a celebratory vibe to her work here which is contrasted against by a sense of uneasiness derived from Castelucci's story.

Shade #1 is more coherent than Doom Patrol, Saida Temofonte's lettering also works as a constant, guiding hand throughout the issue, as it helps differentiate between the different settings and moods of the book. Cecil Castelucci weaves a mystery of sorts into her first issue, and coupled with the lettering, the more familiar genre structure grounds the book's more experimental passages. And boy, does this book have experimental passages! From the start of the book, the creative team constructs a surrealist vibe, aided by Castelucci finding humour in the weirdest places. That opening scene is weird and funny in all the best ways.

Some of the best pages here are completely unbound from any sense of traditional structure, Zarcone's work reminds me a bit of Jillian Tamaki in some points but at the same time, but Fitzpatrick's bright palette makes most comparisons I can think of inadequate. Zarcone and Fitzpatrick go a long way to make Megan and Loma Shade stand out everytime they're in-panel. The book's outlook is shamelessly adolescent and the egotism of the characters is complemented by that aspect of the art.

And there is also a back-up story! And it's scripted and drawn by Natalia and Gilbert Hernández (!!!), and colored by Laura Allred (!!!). I'm aware that Natalia has done mini-comics for a few years but I'd never read her work before. The story is fairly short but I enjoyed it, Natalia's pencils are very imaginative and Allred's colors are a delight, as always.

Featuring great art by Marley Zarcone and Kelly Fitzpatrick, Shade the Changing Girl is a very stylish comic book. While it seems that the book doesn't try to adapt to appeal to new readers who might not be familiar with the Shade mythos, this first issue is a worthwile read just because of the creative's team attention to detail in art and story.