We met Charles Soule, the writer of Strongman at the 2010 Baltimore Comic Con.  I’m declaring it right now, this is a person to keep an eye on.  We decided to take a shot on his graphic novel about a masked wrestler/vigilante crime-fighter/movie star and we’re glad we did.

Put out by SLG Publishing the graphic novel is well worth the money.  But, we’ll let Charles tell you a bit about it himself.

The comic is great, it’s fun and entertaining, and holds up to the Sunday afternoon B-grade movies I loved as a kid, and it refers to so often.  The story is a twisted whirlwind that you never know where it’s going to go.  The art by Allen Gladfelter is impressive too.  With a nice trick of the trade included after the story’s wrapped.

I’m only one comic down from the pile I gained from the trip, and I’m very happy I started with this.  Here’s hoping the rest are of such high quality.

Plot: Soule references B-movies throughout the comic’s story and it’s clear there’s a lot of influence as the entire package screams the material it holds up in such esteem.  The main character of El Tigre, a wrestler/crime fighter/movie star is original and fun.  There’s a lot of camp, but at the same time there’s a sadness to him.  This is a hero I was cheering for, and hope to see more of.  Rating: 8.75

Art: Gladfelter adds a great look to Soule’s story.  As shown in the back of the graphic novel, there’s many possible directions the characters and some scenes could of taken, but I wouldn’t imagine it in any other form.  The art reflects the fun story.  Rating: 8

Overall: Fun, fun is the key word here.  This is a pulp movie in comic form.  The story is over the top, the bad guys campy, but it’s entertaining.  This is a comic worth checking out.  And having seen bits of Soule’s next project, it’s worth getting in on the ground floor so you can say I was reading him when….  Overall rating: 8.5

Recommendation: Buy