Advance Review: `Don’t Spit In The Wind’ #2 Relies Heavily On Its Visuals
by Tom Smithyman
Sometime the visuals alone are enough to get you through a comic book.
In the case of Don’t Spit in the Wind, that’s a good thing, because the story itself sure isn’t going to do it.
In Stefano Cardoselli’s latest issue – he writes and draws the series – the visuals are stunning. At times there is so much going on in any given page or panel that you could easily spend several minutes studying the details. Still, his drawings are an acquired taste. While detailed, the imagery is on the loose side – more akin to a Geof Darrow than a Jim Lee.
Cardoselli painstakingly illustrates post-apocalyptic Earth – a planet that has been overridden by trash. Travis is a specialized garbage man, meaning he is one of the few remaining people on the planet, left to clean up everyone else’s refuse.
Some of the other remaining inhabitants are followers of the Garbage Priest. They are mysterious inhabitants who seem to be able to summon gigantic trash monsters. At least they seem to be trash monsters. Cardoselli’s illustrations don’t make it that easy to understand exactly what is going on much of the time.
And the script doesn’t help much. There is only sporadic text in the first half of the book, and a lot of that is characters yelling out: “Shit!” It’s not exactly great story development.
The second half transports us to an orbiting space station where what’s left of humanity seems to have taken refuge. On the station, somewhat ironically called Hope, we learn that even in space, humans are just as wasteful as ever. There is so much space junk orbiting Earth, that it has formed a ring around the planet. It is, unfortunately, a believable – if heavy-handed – scenario.
Halfway through this limited series, and it’s still difficult to understand exactly what the plot is. Instead, we’re subjected to a set of circumstances and some dynamic visuals. But they aren’t likely enough to keep anyone by the most loyal Cardoselli fans coming back for more.
Don’t Spit in the Wind #2 will be available for purchase on May 10, 2023.
Overview
If a comic book is going to rely on its visuals to support a weak script, the visuals need to be outstanding and easily move the story forward. While this book has some unique drawings, they are sometimes confusing and don’t make up for a paper-thin storyline.
