Solid and well executed.
One of the great things about being a comic book geek is having a small treasure trove of forgotten books sitting around in plastic tubs from past events and conventions. Every now and then when the "Big Two" seem to be deluging the market with comic books I find less than entertaining, I'll run downstairs, grab a stack of small press material and while away a few hours panning for gold. That's just what I was doing the other night when I chanced upon Binary Gray.
This is one of those comic books that just get's it right from page one. The immediate flashback to childhood quickly provided some nice back story elements to the main character and got the story up to speed in a hurry. The pacing was fluid without being forced or hurried. I was engaged from the moment I started turning pages.
The main character is a young man named Alex Gray. He's not a scientist or an athlete capable of super-human feats. He's just an ordinary guy working a dead-end job as an IT guy. One day while performing a routine fix in the server room he's zapped by an electrical discharge from one of the computers and wakes up in the hospital. The next thing he knows he's hearing a voice in his head and the hospital monitors and television sets seem to be reaching out and attempting to interface with him.
Sure the story sounds familiar. I've read it a thousand times involving characters like Peter Parker and Bruce Banner. The plot is archetypical of the modern comic book origin story. That's what made it feel familiar and believable to me without being cliche. I bought into the character right away. The same went for his new abilities. He wasn't given super powers, he was simply given new abilities that didn't stretch the suspension of disbelief system beyond a breaking point.
This was an origin story that didn't suffer from the same mistakes I've seen so many small press comic books suffer from again and again in trying to create a new book. Creator/Writer Chris Charlton didn't try to reinvent or revolutionize comic books, he simply told a good story based around a believable character using familiar and time tested plot lines. I liked the book. It satisfied me as a reader and made me want to read more of Alex Gray's story and hopefully learn more about him and the world he inhabits in future issues of Binary Gray. You can find this book along with other fine products at Assailant Comics. Check em' out. I'm glad I did.
The main character is a young man named Alex Gray. He's not a scientist or an athlete capable of super-human feats. He's just an ordinary guy working a dead-end job as an IT guy. One day while performing a routine fix in the server room he's zapped by an electrical discharge from one of the computers and wakes up in the hospital. The next thing he knows he's hearing a voice in his head and the hospital monitors and television sets seem to be reaching out and attempting to interface with him.
Sure the story sounds familiar. I've read it a thousand times involving characters like Peter Parker and Bruce Banner. The plot is archetypical of the modern comic book origin story. That's what made it feel familiar and believable to me without being cliche. I bought into the character right away. The same went for his new abilities. He wasn't given super powers, he was simply given new abilities that didn't stretch the suspension of disbelief system beyond a breaking point.
This was an origin story that didn't suffer from the same mistakes I've seen so many small press comic books suffer from again and again in trying to create a new book. Creator/Writer Chris Charlton didn't try to reinvent or revolutionize comic books, he simply told a good story based around a believable character using familiar and time tested plot lines. I liked the book. It satisfied me as a reader and made me want to read more of Alex Gray's story and hopefully learn more about him and the world he inhabits in future issues of Binary Gray. You can find this book along with other fine products at Assailant Comics. Check em' out. I'm glad I did.
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