REVIEW: REVIEW: Breathless #1

Writer: Pat Shand
Artist: Renzo Rodriguez
Colorist: Mara Jayne Carpenter
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Review: Art Bee

There is not much of a story as to how Breathless #1 came into my possession. One of the guys at the LCS put it in my folder, and when I saw it I thought, “It doesn’t look horrible, so I will give it a try.”
What I would come to find out was this issue is a work of brilliance. There is so much going on here and my hope is to do it justice in this review.
Put on your safety glasses and hardhat as we get started.

Before reading Breathless #1, I really thought this was going to be something along the lines of a vampire story based on the cover and title. How glad I was to find out that was not the case. Pat Shand has shown us his writing aptitude in this story from the start. The main character is Scout Turner, a doctor at a pharmaceutical company. We are introduced to her on the first page while she is picking up her albuterol inhaler, and this one scene on the first page tells us so much about this character. She has asthma, is broke, has to deal with a lot of silly people, is a leap year baby, and her age; all without actually telling us. Shand gives us all credit for having a brain and being able to put thoughts together.   

This first issue is designed to show us what happens to Scout before the real story takes off. This sci-fi tale’s plot revolves around some creatures named cryptids, more commonly called, “hissers” (due to the sound they make). These creatures look similar to the “demigorgons” in the Netflix show Stranger Things. We are not given much information about these creatures in the first issue other than their strange anatomy and the fear they inspire. The trigger for the real story is the healing of Scout’s asthma from an accidental exposure to some of the venom within a hisser she was dissecting.

One of the great things I like about Shand’s writing is the names. Each name alludes to the character of the person. For instance Scout Turner indicates that she is the start of a direction change. This can mean many different things, but the name Scout reveals that she is a leader or trail blazer as well as being first.
Scout’s assistant’s name is Grace-Eisley Wellington Burke. First this name is sounds annoying and is a direct reflection of the character, as she annoys Scout immensely. A hyphenated first name coupled with two last names says to me this character will most likely play a dual role in the story.
Granted this is just my speculation but the names seem to be carefully chosen, which just screams importance.

The artistry of the entire issue is very good. Rodriguez does a fabulous job of depicting all that is occurring and his consistency is to be applauded. A great gift to us as readers is the extras that seem to be in the backgrounds. On page 12 there is a phrase on the wall, “The Renzo”, which looks like graffiti, but is the only graffiti there. This may be a clue for something later or it could be a dedication of some sort. Something else I noticed was on page 17 where a boy in a baseball cap is hugging a large pink Pikachu. This has nothing to do with the story to the best of my knowledge, but the artist has a reason for placing him there.

This issue played with my brain in very good ways. I will be on board with this story as long as this team continues to do good things like this. These are the kinds of comics I enjoy reading, and other writers and artists could take some pointers from this team. So many try to spoon-feed readers information, but there are better ways. The best example is using a familiar sound to describe another. In this issue we find Grace-Eisley sucking the last bit of a milkshake through a straw and later that same sound is found in a gorier scene.
These techniques are brilliant, and I will point in awe at great creators such as these.