Dembicki, Matt – Xoc #2

Website

Xoc #2

OK fine, it’s another great issue of Xoc, I can’t believe how well the man can draw all kinds of different ocean life, blah blah blah.  The important thing this time around is Matt takes time in his introduction to explain the name Xoc (ancient Mayan word for “demon fish”, so most likely the name for shark) and even reprints an original poster from 1569 (the first known (?) display of a dead shark), which has a very interesting interpretation of what a shark actually looks like.  In other words, I learned something before the comic even started.  Kudos!  Once the comic gets underway things heat up considerably: Xoc gets attacked by a group of killer whales, discovers that there’s an old sea turtle following him around (they’re theoretically just going to the same place, and what safer company to be in than a great white shark?), observes a fight to the death between an octopus and a whale (turns out the octopus has developed a few decent defensive moves over the centuries), feeds on a recent whale carcass (saving some energy by not having to kill something), and gets latched onto by a couple of lampreys.  Seriously, I am constantly impressed by the range Matt shows in depicting these underwater beasts.  Quite a few comic artists never break out of their comfort zones (whatever it is that they like to draw, usually people and regular life situations), but unless Matt is a deep sea diver there must be a lot of research involved in putting out this comic, and he pulls it off flawlessly.  I’d say he should pitch this series to Disney for a movie but I don’t think the world is ready for a great white shark “hero”.  Oh well, the comics world gets this all to itself instead.  If you have any interest in the 75% of the world with no people in it, there’s no reason in the world to miss this. $2