Vengeance Nevada is a black and white comic, with selected color scenes, written by B.J. Mendelson and art by Piotr Czaplarski. The comic begins with Deputy Jacobs, and her glowing blue eyes returning to an apartment where she plans to stay for the night. The scene then cuts to a flashback where we see Deputy Jacobs patrolling and speaking to her dispatcher about her boring boyfriend, Jake. As she is taking about him, he gets killed in a heist that is foiled by super-heroes. When he is killed, Death speaks to Deputy Jacobs informing her of an ancient war that took place and how Aliens have settled on Earth. Yet there their biggest mistake was coming to Earth when several meteors struck the planet and killed them all. Before their death, a High Priestess of this group’s soul was bound to a sword giving it magical powers. Death has delivered this item to Deputy Jacobs, which has caused her to have several side effects, including blue and orange eyes.
The Good:
The comic does a nice job establishing who Deputy Jacobs is through her dialogue and flashbacks. Prior to her run in with Death, she is out on patrol and is interacting with her dispatcher Throughout their conversation we learn about her “boring” boyfriend Jake and how she is planning a party for her child. This show how loving and sweet she is as she loves her kid and wants to provide for him and she loves Jake and misses him when he is not home. This contrast with her tough side as at one point she was dispatched as a soldier to deal with undead like creatures in Afghanistan. Her tough side does come out when she is confronted by Death as she is unfazed by him due to her past experience, rather she takes precautions to protect herself in that circumstance. In witnessing this, we see not only her tough side, but we also see the fact that she knows how to handle situations that other people would freeze in. The comic thickens as they introduce a science fiction magic element into the story by alluding to an ancient war between aliens that forced the Cyntharians to flee to Earth. While settling on earth several meteors killed them, but not before the high Priestess’s soul was fused with a sword granting it magic powers. This element explains why Deputy Jacobs has new powers and is not in full control of her body while in her apartment. The comic for the most part is in black and white, but to showcase the supernatural and magic elements the comic utilizes color to distinguish events from reality. This clarifies what is from another world along with creating an eye catching visual that helps to keep the reader’s attention as to what is significant in the comic.
The Bad:
The comic tends to be confusing when it starts out. The first introduction is to Deputy Jacobs who is exhibiting odd behavior and has blue eyes without having an explanation as to why. It is not until a flashback occurs that we begin to understand what has happened to cause her to act this way. The comic also tends to leave a few loose ends starting with Jake. Jake is Deputy Jacobs “boring” boyfriend, but he gets killed in a heist gone wrong. This raises questions on how well Jacobs knows her man and why was he involved in a crime. Before Reiko dies he speaks about who is also involved with the heist, to make it clear that Jacobs can never find out about what they do. It leaves a question of what is the connection between Jacobs and this group of robbers. To not be out done, Reiko’s fellow thieves find out that she has been killed and set out to find out who did this and fix the situation. This is a problem as the connection between Deputy Jacobs, Jake, and Reiko is not explained and as a result these storylines feel as if they are separate and should be in two different books.
The Verdict:
Vengeance Nevada issue 1 sets out to combine aliens, ancient war, police, and magic into one story. It does deliver on some of those elements and falls short on others, but it presents it in a unique way that is undervalued by having a black and white comic emphasize certain scenes by inserting color. This elevates the comic up to a point where certain components can be tolerated due to the unique color component to the comic. Vengeance Nevada issue 1 attempts to fill a void in the comic scene by telling a classic science fiction magic story in black and white with the modern touch of color, which adds a new twist to storytelling.
