RevolveR One, Salgood Sam, 52 pgs, Split Ink, salgoodsam.com, $15
Montreal’s Salgood Sam (AKA Max Douglas) is an impressively diverse cartoonist and the first quarterly issue of his self-published anthology, RevolveR, provides the perfect showcase for his talents. Whether he’s creating hyper realistic cityscapes, atmospheric and loose dreamlike illustrations or even straight out cartoony styles, he does so with an almost effortless consistency.
“Pin City,” a short science fiction story about a man living in a floating city, starts the book off on a solid note. Unlike some futuristic sci-fi stories, this fantasy city has a gritty, lived in look to it that makes it feel like mid 20th century New York or Chicago amidst fantastical architecture.
Central to this volume is the first part of “The Rise and Fall of it All,” a collaboration with writer John O’Brien. Set in post financial collapse Chicago, the story follows laid-off IT worker Eliot as he drifts dreamily through the city and comes to accept his new reality Sam switches between realistic and loose images throughout the story and his use of different coloured ink washes throughout creates a beautiful sense of atmosphere.
The book switches to a couple of shorts written by AJ Duric and ends off with some casual personal stories and excerpts from the Montreal Comic Jam.
An exceptional work by an often- overlooked comics veteran, RevolveR contains enough variety to appeal to both mainstream and indie comic readers. (Matthew Daley)