Review: Slots #2
Lifetime reader of comics and fan of Planet of the Apes. When the two combine I can barely contain myself. Image, Boom and Titan comics fight for shelf space with Doctor Who DVDs.
Continuing the story from Image and Skybound comics, Slots #2 hits the shelves this week. Our contributor, Darrryll Robson, takes a look at this issue to see how the confidence trick is playing out.
There is more conniving tricks and underhand scheming going on in the latest issue of Slots from Dan Panosian. After the initial introduction of the central character, Stanley, last month, Panosian takes some time to open up the history of his characters. He lays down the foundation for which the remaining story will be built and it goes some way to explain Stanley’s past life. However, there is still the feeling that not all is as it seems and Stanley’s portrayed track record of lying and conning people makes the reader wonder just how much is to be believed.
Synopsis
Stanley tries to ingratiate himself back into the lives of his family, a family he walked away from a long time ago. He calls in favours from friends while attracting the attention of some unruly sorts of characters.
Stanley is known in Las Vegas and very few people seem to want him around. Even fewer trust him.
The big fight between Stanley and Les, his rival in just about every way, has been set up and all that is left to do is train. And reminisce on the history of their ‘friendship’.
There is a lot to play for but Stanley has a twinkle in his eye, almost like he knows something that nobody else does.
Meanwhile Stanley’s return to town is having an adverse effect on his son, Luce, who can’t seem to escape from the shadow his father casts.
Analysis
Dan Panosian spends the second issue digging down into the two central characters: Stanley and his son, Luce. On the first page he sets up the current relationship between the two, with their only encounter in this issue. Luce rides his motorbike down the empty desert road and passes by Stanley who is out for a run. However, Stanley’s narration would seem to suggest something else. Panosian continues the trend he set out in the first issue of giving Stanley a greater insight into the actions portrayed on the page. Stanley has a very clever plan and only he knows what it is but small hints are given away through everything he says.
The opening of this issue suggests that Stanley is setting something up and the interaction with Luce on the first page indicates it has something to do with him. But this first page does something more than hint at Stanley’s great plan, it also illustrates the relationship between Luce and his father. It shows the gulf between them using their placement within the panel. Luce’s animosity towards his father is perfectly illustrated in the final panel on the first page; a snarling face utters an obscenity as he passes by.
This opening page sets the narrative flow for the issue. Everything that follows all feeds into this single relationship, even though so much of it only involves one or the other of the characters. Stanley’s past with Luce’s mother all comes spilling out, informing the reader about Stanley’s character but also highlighting the circumstances surrounding Luce’s childhood. This in turn feeds into the present day and the relationship Luce has with his mother and her ‘special friend’.
Panosian is playing the long game. He is laying the ground work for the big payoff in the final issue. The opening of issue one did the same thing with a simple confidence trick that Stanley played on a waitress in a diner. Panosian is following on from that but on a grander scale. He showed us how Stanley works at the very beginning so that we are prepared for his actions going forward.
Nothing can be taken for granted, that is the point that Panosian made in issue one therefore there is so much that we, as an audience, need to think about in this issue. For example, why is so much attention given to the man selling sauce in the background to one of the scenes? It’s like a drug deal going down but the man is selling what appears to be a hot, tomato based sauce. Is this relevant to the plot? It wouldn’t seem so and yet the entire ‘deal’ plays out during the main action. Maybe the sauce seller is playing a mark, conning the poor guy, and this is a reflection of Stanley’s conversation in the foreground. Stanley, a known con man, is pulling a fast one on Sticky, his fight manager.
The changing art style between the modern day story and Stanley’s flashback tale of woe is different enough to be noticeable but not enough to disrupt the flow of the story. The bleached coloring effect gives it an impression of age while at the same time reminding the reader that it is a watered down, potentially whitewashed, version of events; this is all told from Stanley’s point of view after all.
Overall the story moves at an interesting pace, building on the characters rather than the narrative. At least that is how this issue appears to be, but so much of the background work could lead into the future issues. This month doesn’t have the same impressive comic layout as the first issue but any shortfall is made up for in the world building element. Panosian has a detailed story to tell and he is using all the tricks of his trade to tell it.
Darryll Robson is a Contributor to ComiConverse. Occasionally he remembers his Twitter account: @DarryllRobson, but he does remember to write more about comics on his website http://comiccutdown.weebly.com/
Impressive character building
The story moves at an interesting pace, building on the characters rather than the narrative. Panosian has a detailed story to tell and he is using all the tricks of his trade to tell it.