Review -- PHOBOS

Phobos
Art by Jason Brubaker
Written by Jason Brubaker
Coffee Table Comics
Phobos is one of those wonderful stories which really brings a number of very solid elements together.
To begin with, the art immediately catches the eye. Rendered in black and white Jason Brubaker has a style which is reminiscent of Dale Keown on his hit book Pitt. That my friends is high praise in my books.
Brubaker is especially good at facial close-up panels, where he captures emotions such as fear and surprise well.
It is also interesting to note, and to the artist's credit, that issue two of the series is stronger artistically than the first. That shows skill growth with is admirable.
Brubaker said art is his greatest strength at this point.
“I look at myself as more of an artist then a writer and so my influences have always been my favorite artists who wrote their own books,” he said. “When I drew Phobos I was influenced by Sam Kieth, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller and Douglas Adams.” He added he doesn't see the Keown influence as much. “Yeah, Dale Keown has some great stuff and I can't say I wasn't influenced by him but Sam, Erik, Todd and Frank were my main guys for Phobos.”
Brubaker is right that many people will also see Keith's The Maxx in this work in terms of style.
Story wise, Brubaker is in the groove to. Phobos is a tongue-in-cheek horror story, that draws much in terms of approach from the old television series The Munsters. The classic horror icons, vampire, werewolf, Frankenstein are all here, but with a definite humourous twist.
Humour on a title which borrows what could easily become clichéd character types is a risk. The story could easily bog down in silly one-liners, and tired jokes heard before. Brubaker does an excellent job of avoiding such pitfalls. He has a good sense of pace in terms of writing the humour found here.
Brubaker himself said his humour writing is something of a work-in-progress in his mind.
“I don't feel like I really have a grasp on writing humor yet,” he said. “I've always liked how Douglas Adams writes humor in the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy books and can honestly say he is a big influence.”
Brubaker added, that writing is still the mist difficult aspect of creating Phobos.
“Writing is much harder for me,” he said, “although I'd have to say that I'm finding it easier the more stories I create. Drawing has always been a natural thing where as writing takes me a long time and 100 per cent concentration.”
Brubaker said the actual influences in terms of story are rather diverse.
“Back in high school when I came up with this idea I was really into the common horror characters like Dracula and werewolves but I wanted to create a world where these characters were more or less good,” he said. “I loved Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein illustrations as well as any old black and white Munsters/Addam's Family type look. And making them all friends was the only right thing to do.”
That said, Phobos directly came about as a result of trying to follow in the footsteps of one of the best indie comic titles ever.
“Phobos evolved from a Cerebus (Dave Sim) style character I was trying to create,” said Brubaker. “I realized that he looked bat-like so I made him into a messed up vampire. The rest of the cast quickly followed with a mad scientist and Frank inspired by Sam Kieth's art.”
There is really no weak element with Phobos. Brubaker takes a familiar group of characters and breathes fresh life into the storyline with humour, while offering a visually impressive book. Highly recommended.
The final product satisfied its creator too.
“The final look of the book looks great in my opinion and I'm very pleased with it,” said Brubaker, adding acceptance has been harder to find. “It's been hard finding an audience though. I have some die hard fans who will buy every Phobos thing I make but they're a rare breed.
“I've only taken it to the San Francisco Ape Con one year to test my market but plan on getting booths at lots of conventions for 2010 along with my upcoming graphic novel called "reMIND". I'll try to have a Phobos trade available by then too.”
And, the story may grow beyond a comic too.
“Believe it or not I have been pitching it around to movie studios this last year with several signs of interest,” said Brubaker. “As far as the story goes, let’s just say there’s a Mummy thrown in the mix. Phobos learns more of his dark past, and Frank has an interesting taste of the afterlife.”
Check it out at http://CoffeeTableComics.com the main website with information about ordering Phobos. Brubaker's personal portfolio site is http://Jason-Brubaker.com which has art, animation, and a blog.
-- CALVIN DANIELS
-- Appeared on Yorkton This Week WebXtra