By Mark Rodriguez
It's time for Free Comic Book Day and it's always cool to pick up some new and unique comics that aren't just the usual Marvel, DC or IDW stuff. This one is Punch Line, so let's check it out.
The story opens with young woman in a cemetery, having evaded whoever was chasing her. She is bleeding from the side and thinks she can just lay down and die there. The woman sends a text apologizing to Shawn and telling him that Joel got the drop on her and Dragon Tooth is gone. She smashes her phone and sits on bench to get some rest. A woman comes up and tells her that she is sitting on a private bench.
The younger girl tells her she came to the cemetery to get away from family drama and sketch. She says this particular area is a dead zone, no cell signal. The older woman says not to worry about moving to another bench, she'll be taking off anyway as she shows her hand covered in blood. The younger woman asks if she's okay. The wounded woman says her name is Mel, she was an agent for the supernatural and when she refused to pass down her power they decided to take her out. The other woman is named Jessie and asks what she meant by supernatural. Mel explains all the superheroes that exist in their world. Jessie asks if passing down her power will save her life. Mel is not sure but she says it's not the kind of thing to jump blindly into.
Despite warning Jessie of the dangers of being a superhero, she is more than eager to start. Mel figured she might as well since she's dying anyway. She pulls out a knife and cuts Jessie's finger and places her hand over her bleeding wound. Jessie doesn't feel any different and Mel says she'll clean her up and snaps her fingers. The blood is gone from Jessie's hand. Jessie asks if she can get a costume and Mel snaps her fingers a few times to go through several options, including bikinis, while it's snowing.
Jessie says she's cold and Mel asks if she's really cold or if she only thinks she's cold because it's Christmas Eve. Jessie realizes she doesn't actually feel cold. Mel snaps Jessie back into her original clothes and notices that she also stopped bleeding. Mel tells Jessie to go home to her family and act normal until the 27th where they will meet again for training. As Jessie leaves, Mel says to herself 'poor kid.'
And so on the 27th, Jessie heads to the rooftop and meets up with Mel. For their training, Jessie will have to stop a crime but she will need a costume first. Jessie sketched up something she wanted to wear and Mel snaps her fingers. Jessie gets a brand new superhero costume and she loves it. Mel tells her protege to fly off on patrol by herself, find a crime and stop it. Jessie asks how she knows she can fly and Mel tells her because she can no longer fly anymore.
Jessie flies around for a while but can't find any crime to stop and gets bored. She soon hears gunfire. A guy with arrows points to a getaway car and tells her to stop it. Jess flies off and lands in front of the car, telling them to stop.... but the guys continue to floor it with the intention of running her over. They smack her and the vehicle is sent flying into a donut sign above a restaurant. Black Arrow thanks her and Jess calls herself Versema and flies off.
Jess returns to Mel and tells her she stopped a getaway car and met Black Arrow. Mel says Black Arrow is actually two guys sharing a suit. Mel says tonight Jess learned about intel, it'll be easier to stop crimes if she knows where the bad guys will be. She snaps her fingers and changes Jess back into her regular clothes. Mel says she needs to work on the insta-change so she can change in and out of uniform herself. They will meet again for training in 3 days.
Jess heads out for Chipotle and Mel gives her some cash. Jess asks if she's sure and Mel says she made it home alive, so she did good. Mel leaves for now. Jess looks into a reflective window and tells herself that she can do this.
My Opinions-
Pretty decent start, though some parts seems a bit rushed. It's the kind of thing I would feel would be expanded upon if there is ever a cartoon or movie adaptation. Maybe because she's young but Jessie instantly believes Mel is a superhero and is eager to just jump into the role despite Mel being bleeding half to death on their first meeting. Then Mel tells her to 'go home and be normal until the 27th'. With Christmas Eve being the 24th, she's expected an overly anxious teen to not mess around with her powers for 2 whole days? And what were her powers? With Mel not even telling her exactly what superhero she used to be, Jess has zero idea of what powers she even has or how they work. For all she knew, Mel's only power could have been just snapping her fingers and changing people's clothes.
The training is kinda odd. Go out there, find a crime and stop it. Never mind if you happen to not be bullet proof or have super speed or whatever else. You can fly, go out there and do it. What is Jess's power was only that she could fly? I can only excuse this by saying that Mel is half-assing the training because she never really wanted to pass down her power anyway and only did it because she was forced to.
Mel is kinda interesting and I am curious about her past and maybe some of her previous adventures, even though I understand this is Jessie's story. Mel has kind of a dry sarcastic wit, then kind where you ask someone a question and you get a smart ass answer or something so ridiculous it might or might not be true. So yeah Mel, I'm not 100% sure if Black Arrow really is two guys sharing a costume. Jessie is just.... kinda emo teen to overly eager to be a superhero. I assume she'll get more character development if we see more of her home life or whenever she discovers that being a superhero is not all fun and games.
Interesting story and there's a trade paperback out. Maybe I'll pick it up if I run into it, I'm curious what will happen next. I do wish the Jess's cape name was Punchline rather than Versema.
It's time for Free Comic Book Day and it's always cool to pick up some new and unique comics that aren't just the usual Marvel, DC or IDW stuff. This one is Punch Line, so let's check it out.
The story opens with young woman in a cemetery, having evaded whoever was chasing her. She is bleeding from the side and thinks she can just lay down and die there. The woman sends a text apologizing to Shawn and telling him that Joel got the drop on her and Dragon Tooth is gone. She smashes her phone and sits on bench to get some rest. A woman comes up and tells her that she is sitting on a private bench.
The younger girl tells her she came to the cemetery to get away from family drama and sketch. She says this particular area is a dead zone, no cell signal. The older woman says not to worry about moving to another bench, she'll be taking off anyway as she shows her hand covered in blood. The younger woman asks if she's okay. The wounded woman says her name is Mel, she was an agent for the supernatural and when she refused to pass down her power they decided to take her out. The other woman is named Jessie and asks what she meant by supernatural. Mel explains all the superheroes that exist in their world. Jessie asks if passing down her power will save her life. Mel is not sure but she says it's not the kind of thing to jump blindly into.
Despite warning Jessie of the dangers of being a superhero, she is more than eager to start. Mel figured she might as well since she's dying anyway. She pulls out a knife and cuts Jessie's finger and places her hand over her bleeding wound. Jessie doesn't feel any different and Mel says she'll clean her up and snaps her fingers. The blood is gone from Jessie's hand. Jessie asks if she can get a costume and Mel snaps her fingers a few times to go through several options, including bikinis, while it's snowing.
 |
| Um... Battle Angel cameo??? |
Jessie says she's cold and Mel asks if she's really cold or if she only thinks she's cold because it's Christmas Eve. Jessie realizes she doesn't actually feel cold. Mel snaps Jessie back into her original clothes and notices that she also stopped bleeding. Mel tells Jessie to go home to her family and act normal until the 27th where they will meet again for training. As Jessie leaves, Mel says to herself 'poor kid.'
And so on the 27th, Jessie heads to the rooftop and meets up with Mel. For their training, Jessie will have to stop a crime but she will need a costume first. Jessie sketched up something she wanted to wear and Mel snaps her fingers. Jessie gets a brand new superhero costume and she loves it. Mel tells her protege to fly off on patrol by herself, find a crime and stop it. Jessie asks how she knows she can fly and Mel tells her because she can no longer fly anymore.
Jessie flies around for a while but can't find any crime to stop and gets bored. She soon hears gunfire. A guy with arrows points to a getaway car and tells her to stop it. Jess flies off and lands in front of the car, telling them to stop.... but the guys continue to floor it with the intention of running her over. They smack her and the vehicle is sent flying into a donut sign above a restaurant. Black Arrow thanks her and Jess calls herself Versema and flies off.
 |
| This was a bit confusing, but I think the car ran into her and was somehow sent flying into the sign instead of just getting smashed up or something like that. Just how fast were they driving into her? |
Jess returns to Mel and tells her she stopped a getaway car and met Black Arrow. Mel says Black Arrow is actually two guys sharing a suit. Mel says tonight Jess learned about intel, it'll be easier to stop crimes if she knows where the bad guys will be. She snaps her fingers and changes Jess back into her regular clothes. Mel says she needs to work on the insta-change so she can change in and out of uniform herself. They will meet again for training in 3 days.
Jess heads out for Chipotle and Mel gives her some cash. Jess asks if she's sure and Mel says she made it home alive, so she did good. Mel leaves for now. Jess looks into a reflective window and tells herself that she can do this.
My Opinions-
Pretty decent start, though some parts seems a bit rushed. It's the kind of thing I would feel would be expanded upon if there is ever a cartoon or movie adaptation. Maybe because she's young but Jessie instantly believes Mel is a superhero and is eager to just jump into the role despite Mel being bleeding half to death on their first meeting. Then Mel tells her to 'go home and be normal until the 27th'. With Christmas Eve being the 24th, she's expected an overly anxious teen to not mess around with her powers for 2 whole days? And what were her powers? With Mel not even telling her exactly what superhero she used to be, Jess has zero idea of what powers she even has or how they work. For all she knew, Mel's only power could have been just snapping her fingers and changing people's clothes.
The training is kinda odd. Go out there, find a crime and stop it. Never mind if you happen to not be bullet proof or have super speed or whatever else. You can fly, go out there and do it. What is Jess's power was only that she could fly? I can only excuse this by saying that Mel is half-assing the training because she never really wanted to pass down her power anyway and only did it because she was forced to.
Mel is kinda interesting and I am curious about her past and maybe some of her previous adventures, even though I understand this is Jessie's story. Mel has kind of a dry sarcastic wit, then kind where you ask someone a question and you get a smart ass answer or something so ridiculous it might or might not be true. So yeah Mel, I'm not 100% sure if Black Arrow really is two guys sharing a costume. Jessie is just.... kinda emo teen to overly eager to be a superhero. I assume she'll get more character development if we see more of her home life or whenever she discovers that being a superhero is not all fun and games.
Interesting story and there's a trade paperback out. Maybe I'll pick it up if I run into it, I'm curious what will happen next. I do wish the Jess's cape name was Punchline rather than Versema.
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