After his gambling addiction brings David to the lowest point in his life and decimates his personal life, he’d do anything for one last chance at setting things right but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Luckily, he learns of a heist and comes up with the idea of robbing the robbers. Underheist #1 delivers an opening chapter that feels like a pretty standard heist story but teases more.
Written by Maria Lapham and David Lapham, Underheist #1 isn’t a bad debut but also doesn’t quite excite. The teaser for the series promises a “supernatural horror twist” but beyond some minor teases, it doesn’t dive too much into that. Instead, the Laphams focus on David and his being a fuck up. His life is a mess, at least he thinks it is. He has a job. He has someone that loves him. He has a family. He’s just digging himself out of a gambling debt it seems, something mentioned but never used enough to really build tension over what his plan is. As presented, it just feels like a minor fuck up continuing to do so. The comic never quite makes the case he needs to make a big score, it comes off more he wants to.
David Lapham handles the art with color by Hilary Jenkins and lettering by David Lapham. The look of the comic is good. Like the story itself, it doesn’t shine enough nor use its visuals to build an emotional connection. There isn’t visual tension or enough of a personal focus to create caring about what happens to David. It all looks decent but doesn’t quite jump out.
Underheist #1 isn’t a bad debut but it just doesn’t excite. The story is something we’ve seen many times before and what might set itself apart doesn’t get a focus. There also isn’t much time spent on David to really care what happens to him or feel sorry for his choices. Overall, it’s very average.
Story: Maria Lapham, David Lapham Art: David Lapham
Color: Hilary Jenkins Letterer: David Lapham
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read
BOOM! Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
