Meehan, Bram – Raised By Squirrels (with Monica Meehan)

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Raised By Squirrels

Call this an aesthetic problem if you want, but it’s really best to throw a “Book One” on the cover if you plan on keeping the story going, which it sure looks like they’re doing here. It just looks naked now. Minor quibbles aside, this was a fun espionage thrilller book, if a bit confusing at times and loaded with too many flashbacks in a row. They story begins with a woman (Rose) trying to get a man (Tyler) who has left a nebulous spy organization (S.Q.R.L.) to come back to the fold. She left him for dead previously, but he sees he has no choice in the matter so goes with her. No idea how he survived being left for dead, as that part was left out of the flashbacks. S.Q.R.L. (no idea what it stands for) develops and/or makes super beings for use in their black ops type missions, and we get to briefly see a few here. This looks like it has the potential to be a massive, sprawling, complicated spy story, so a suggestion at the start, which they already picked up on a little bit: throw in some history here and there. More of the bits of memos we saw, or maybe a timeline when they get another half dozen issues or so into the storyline. I like what I saw (the art was great for this type of story, all dark and smudgy), but rein in the story a bit, maybe focus on a character per issue or something for a bit. Just my two cents, such as it is. Worth picking up if you like this sort of thing, as I would say chances are good that there are better days ahead. Also, I just checked out the website and it looks like the story is moving right along there, with issues you can download for free, so at least you won’t be left with a cliffhanger for long. $4.95