Gasolina #1

Story by Sean Mackiewicz
Art by Niko Walter
Colors by Mat Lopes
Published by Image

Trouble South of the Border

I really wish I could tell you completely what Gasolina is about. However, the first issue of this new series from Image Comics has so many things rolled into one 32-page issue that there's not enough time to fully cover everything. If ever a comic book needed a 48 or 64-page giant sized first issue, Gasolina would be the one to need it.

Our story starts out in the sugar cane fields of Mexico. Two star-crossed lovers, each of questionable back-grounds, are struggling to make ends meet thanks to an infestation of beetles. The scene jumps and the lovers are in some sort of infirmary caring for two field workers who were supposedly shot. However, these don't look like entry wounds. It looks like something was trying to bite its way out!

If Gasolina would stick to this plot right here, I would be singing this book's praises. I'd also be demanding issue #2 right here, right now. But co-creator Sean Mackiewicz adds more elements to the mix. The woman in the affair, Mal, has a shadowy past as a killer of some sort. Randy is her lover and he seems to be doctor. But it's alluded that his past is just as complicated. At the issue's halfway point,  two are tasked with finding a missing boy from a cult of death worshipers. Thus, the whole parasitic bug angle from earlier in the book is seemingly forgotten.

On a Soap Box

In the afterword of issue #1, Mackiewicz explains that Gasolina is his way of bringing to light the evils of European colonialism on the Mexican people. The writer claims that the plunder of the indigenous peoples of the Aztecs have resulted in the rise of the drug cartels and rampant crime in Mexico. Thus this is why a kidnapping is added to the mix of this tale of scary-ass bugs. But making the cartels also be death worshipers adds a confusing layer to this story.

I understand that Sean Mackiewicz wants to make a horror story with a socially relevant theme. 1968's Night of the Living Dead is a brilliant example of using scares to express the underlying issue of racism and class warfare. There's been plenty of great horror and sci-fi films from all over the world that tackling important issues. But what makes them great stories is that they don't get too complex.

Let's go back to Night of the Living Dead- the whole film takes place basically in a farm house. Godzilla, which has long been a series devoted to the evils of nuclear weapons has a simple plot- giant lizard destroys Tokyo. To make things interesting, throw in an occasional evil monster to battle Godzilla. Speaking of things exploding from the inside out of a person, Alien, a film about corporate misconduct at the expense of workers, takes place on a spaceship!

My point is that you don't have to go all over the place to get your point across. I think Mackiewicz should have abandoned the kidnapping element for now. Issue one should have built up the suspense and maybe as a cliffhanger have the little boy discovered to have been kidnapped. Then in the next issue that death cult could have been introduced.

My Verdict

This is Sean Mackiewicz' first comic book. Like many new writers, they try to do too much too fast. I'm willing to give this series another try but not as a monthly. Sometime next year, when this is offered as a trade, I will return to Gasolina. These seems to me a series that has great potential. But a monthly format of 32-pages only is wrong for this series.

Co-creator and artist Niko Walter's artwork is very good. I didn't really have any issues with it. I didn't know who some of the characters are but that wasn't from bad art. Again, the author spends too much time trying to add extra plot-lines. As a result, he neglects to really give the reader an introduction to the cast. Some love also needs to be given to colorist Mat Lopes, whose muted palette and earth tones illicit both the Mexican settings and Gasolina's creepy undertone.

Gasolina is a series that is going somewhere. But in this first issue, it's going too fast to really make the story enjoyable. It's like a movie that flops in the theatres but becomes a smash on Pay-Per-View and DVD. I think Gasolina just wasn't meant for this medium. But as a graphic novel collection, it's going to be a phenomenal thriller. Just wait until 2018.

A Second Look

If you think I'm being harsh, remember my description of this issue and now look at the preview video from Image. The video seems to imply that Gasolina will be a story about a drug war fought with monsters. In no way did I get the idea that this was where the book is going. I didn't even know Randy and Mal were married until the trailer told me! I'm telling you, 32-pages was just not enough pages for Mackiewicz and crew to give the reader a good idea what direction this series is going in.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Review originally published on September 21, 2017 on outrightgeekery.com.