Mitchell, Brian John – Just A Man #1 (with Andrew White)

Website

Just A Man #1 (with art by Andrew White)

If there’s one thing that Brian needs, it’s clearly another series.  As sarcasm doesn’t come across well on the internets, let me just make clear how very sarcastic that was.  The man is already a machine, it seems ridiculous to start up another series.  More power to him if he wants to keep four series going at once, although it’s hard to tell if this one is going to be more than one issue.  This is the story of a simple man who works the land to feed his family until he comes home to find his house on fire.  His infant son is dead, his wife is missing, and he has a pretty good idea who’s responsible.  I may have my westerns mixed up, but isn’t that the plot from Unforgiven?  Except that the Clint Eastwood character at least had a history as a gunslinger.  Anyway, a confrontation occurs (sort of), things end, and I’d think this was a one-shot if it wasn’t for the gaping bit of story that remains unresolved.   All told the story didn’t do a lot for me, as it seemed like something I’d seen before, and even the dialogue got cliched every once in a while.  Granted, that’s probably hard to avoid with a western, so he doesn’t lose any points for that.  Still, that gaping plot hole (I’m trying to avoid spoilers), the lack of resolution with what should be a central character, is annoying.  If this is a series, fine.  If not, it ruins this as a one-shot.  Time will tell, but start with his other series and work your way over to this one.  Oh, I should mention that the art perfectly suited the mood of this book, to end on a positive note if nothing else.  $1