Review: ‘Exploit’ #1 Starts To Butt-Kick Corporate Bias
by Benjamin Hall
Summary
Summary: Journalism as it should be… bringing justice in a butt-kicking investigative way! This is despite what the wealthy desire. Yet, in an age where the one percent own practically everything how does one still do true journalism? Also can 30-something intern Kirby Kuo successfully pitch her first story to RIOT! Magazine and expose the corruption of its buyer Cole Saxon?
Overall
9.9/10Writers Laura Hudson and Tim Leong bring readers an extremely relevant story. Its relevance is mostly from the plot. Yet, the characterization is also an essential factor. The main character faces both a major struggle and several minor ones. Yes, there is a reliance on the standard cliches and tropes a journalism thriller narrative has, but they are seeing expert use. In a lot of ways this issue’s writing is shaping the story to be similar to a lot of great movies, such as The Conversation (1974) and Enemy of The State (1998). This is especially true because of how the reasonable paranoia aspect along with surveillance technology play key parts in the telling.
Artist Emiliana Pinna could do better when it comes to how smooth her art looks. However, Pinna does succeed at reaching a state that a lot of readers could consider high quality. The interiors successfully tell the same story in a way that other artists might not be able to achieve. Pinna accomplishes this by how natural and realistic the poses appear, particularly when it comes to the friendly interactions and secretive meetings. The main cover is arguably a little less high quality than the interiors simply because some of the minimalistic elements go a little too far down that route. It still is a cover that should capture potential readers’ attentions, specifically those who like the magazine type aesthetics.
Colorist Rebecca Good applies a wide range of hues in this installment. To this reviewer’s mind, Good is able to make all the locations, and their corresponding time frames, feel more real to life by varying palettes.
Letterer Frank Cvetkovic goes for it with differing the fonts depending on what each bit of text requires. One strong example of this is when an interaction goes from normal to loud and Cvetkovic addresses it in a way that makes the matter seem to occur in a head-on manner.
The variant cover by artist Veronica Fish features a fantastic visual that may evoke the myth of folktale hero John Henry in certain readers’ minds. This is because the main character of this comic is posing with a sledgehammer while standing over the debris of machines.
Exploit #1 sees release on March 4th from Mad Cave Studios.
