Memoir Issue 1: 3

            So not every week do I have the time to get to the comic book store or justify the amount of money going into comic books for these tri-weekly posts. Over time I’ve collected a few sites that have free issues, mostly for a limited time and some times the free one is issue 4 but not issue 1. Through this method I have stumbled across some interesting comics, one being Memoir.

            Memoir is about a town in middle America called Lowesville. One night the town went to bed normal as apple pie but the next morning they all woke up with no memories at all. So far this doesn’t sound to interesting since there is only so far they can go with this but then they add in that one person that remembers everything and hints at the fact that there is more to these memories than we think at first. They are not just memories of breakfast at the diner and PTO meetings at the elementary school. Oh no, there is much more sinister skeletons in this towns closet.

            To be honest in the beginning it was confusing and the art is annoying. How the first part is structured is a big headache. They are trying to give you all the information at once but it’s not clear what is internal or external monologue versus narrative as well as some times the dialogue doesn’t seem to be flowing correctly. Up until about midway through it’s all butchered dialogue and awkward angles.

            Along side that is art that makes me want to punch the illustrator. The faces get warped in multiple panels, which to me is a clear sign of an amateur. Usually we see this problem happen with unknown little indie comics that don’t make it past infancy. Also this art style is completely over shadowed and I mean that literately. I absolutely hate when this happens and Memoir is one of the worst perpetrators. There are panels that the characters look like they have a mix between hooker and clown make-up having a gang bang on their faces. Point definitely lost right there.

            Now that I’ve ripped it up a bit for good measure let me tell you what I did like and why it might be a good idea to keep an eye out for this. The concept is well handled and still to me very interesting. We don’t see that one person with all the memories just yet. All we see of them is a creepy stalker-like set of e-mails exchanged with the main character, which gets cut off to early at the discovery at a mass grave. All the crazy talk from pages past now makes sense and some of it is forgiven- only some.

            Yes the bad out weigh the good but either way they have my attention. Also a good little fact that helps me keep reading is that there are only six of them. Even if I read until the end it won’t break the bank or take up a lot of time. Those are good traits for a comic with so many negatives already trailing it.

            Memoir: 3 out of 5. Most of that 3 is just concept and mass grave findings. Really the 2^nd issue will probably be the deal breaker or savior of all. Either way such a short series so no matter which way it goes it won’t take away any time at all from reading far better comics.