Advance Review: ‘Junior Baker The Righteous Faker’ #1 Is A Visual Extravaganza
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
Incredible illustrations dominate this premiere issue. An intriguing story slowly unwinds, but you’ll find yourself gawking at the page, then going back to study each panel. This book should be considered a must-have, if only for the visuals.
Overall
9.5/10Artist Ryan Quackenbush’s name doesn’t appear on today’s lists of top talent in the comic book industry. But after his work on Junior Baker The Righteous Faker, that will change.
From cover to cover in this first issue, Quackenbush delivers a visual masterpiece – using every tool in an illustrator’s arsenal including dynamic colors, top-notch linework and clever silhouetting. He packs so much into nearly every page, that fans will find themselves reading and rereading this issue just to study the details and to find things they missed the first time through. Even the book’s title page, which is typically glossed over by most readers, deserves careful scrutiny.
And then there’s the initial splash page that kicks off the narrative. As the text on the page examines the meaning of life and our role in the cosmos, Quackenbush presents a mind-blowing starscape, complete with celestial bodies, contour lines and an image of a fetus. Somehow, he’s able to bring to life writer Joe Casey’s words in a way that is meaningful and cinematic. Quackenbush channels artists like Dave McKean and Andrea Sorrentino while still making it uniquely is own.
Not every page is that level of spectacle, of course, but they are all impactful. Another splash page halfway through the issue has protagonist Daniel “Dizzy” Baker confronted by a supernatural entity called the Inevitability. The page’s colors could have been pulled out of a trippy 1970s velvet blacklight-enhanced poster. But again, it adds to the mystery unfolding around Dizzy.
What is the Inevitability and how does it fit into the story of a reporter at a clickbait news site? Casey’s tale is thoughtful, but we are left with far more questions than answers. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s difficult to know at this point if the story is a good one. From his past work, Casey has earned our trust and the benefit of the doubt. But we’ll need to get some level of detail soon before this five-part limited series wraps up.
It’s worth noting that Junior Baker is a sequel to Casey’s 2011 series Butcher Baker The Righteous Maker. But readers don’t have to be familiar with that work to enjoy the new run.
They simply need to examine and enjoy the turn of each dynamic page as it reveals itself before them.
Junior Baker The Righteous Faker #1 will be available for purchase on September 20, 2023.
