Local Man, for me, is one of the best superhero debuts of the year. The comic has done an amazing job of delivering new characters and story but integrated in a way with the rich superhero history of Image Comics. Presented as a flip book, each issue delivers two stories, one the more modern, and the other delivering some history and background that has to do with the main story. Local Man #6 keeps that up as Jack Xaver must figure out what to do next and trouble comes calling in multiple ways.
Written by Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs, Local Man #6 dives right into the impact of the first arc. The death of the beloved Camo Crusader has driven a conspiracy that threatens the town. Then there’s the death of a girl who has drowned… on dry land. And Jack is still legally not allowed to be a superhero. It makes it a little difficult for him to do what needs to be done.
Seeley and Fleecs keep on delivering an interesting character in Jack who is both very good at what he does, generally wants to do the right thing, but also kind of scummy. We learned of his affair in the first arc and this arc continues his ways as he’s now sleeping with the police chief’s wife. It’s hard to cheer for Jack but at the same time, you kind of want to. Kind of.
The issue sets things up quite well and the conspiracy theory concept feels like it’s timely and fits right at home in our current mess of a world. There’s also a nice sadness and weight you feel from the characters about what happened with Camo Crusader.
In the flip story, we meet Inga whose boyfriend just skipped town to join a superhero team. You can guess who that is… As I said above, these snippets are great in that they deliver a lot of backstory that come into play later in the comic.
The art is split between Fleecs and Seeley with each handling one story and they’re joined by Brad Simpson and Felipe Sobreiro on color. The comic looks great as always with a style that feels a bit like classic Image superhero comics but also a bit modern as well. The visuals really emphasize the more humorous aspects of the comic showing it doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s visuals that’ll just get you to pause and laugh. The two stories are very distinctive as their visual styles are so different but it really works well.
Local Man #6 continues the solid series. The next arc looks interesting and should be intriguing to see where it goes, especially when it comes to the greater Image superhero universe. If you haven’t been reading this series, it’s not too late and highly recommended.
Story: Tim Seeley, Tony Fleecs Art: Tim Seeley, Tony Fleecs Color: Brad Simpson, Felipe Sobreiro
Story: 8.15 Art: 8.15 Overall: 8.15 Recommendation: Buy
Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Kindle
