‘Brooklyn Gladiator Volume Zero’ (review)

Written by Dan Fogler and Andrew Harrison
Illustrated by Tom Hodges
Cover by Darick Robertson
Published by ChapterHouse Comics

I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this comic book to read. After all, Dan Fogler is an actor who decided to try his hand at comics. Sometimes that turns out decently and sometimes it ends up being a complete disaster.

Brooklyn Gladiator isn’t a complete disaster. It’s an intelligent comic, with well thought out writing that never quite took off for me.

This book is about a guy named John Miller. He lives in the year 2033. America is walled in and population is out of control.Miller is a boxer who also does drug running. He’s a very well developed character.

The sad thing is, he’s almost overdeveloped and every other character is underdeveloped.

From the opening scene, he’s flying around in a spiritual plane.  I loved that Fogler and Harrison were able to tap into his emotions, but it felt like I was getting whacked over the head with a hammer after a while. They need to learn the old adage of showing rather than telling. The thought captions also made it difficult to trudge through. It made it a chore rather than fun.

But still, there is fun to be had. Once the book takes off, it really moves. Watching Miller get himself into trouble and over his head is fun. Fogler and Harrison make the exciting parts really exciting. There’s a cool boxing scene that shows a different side of Miller. And the ending of the book is a cliffhanger and seems to lead into Miller being on the run in a manhunt in the next chapter. Should be fun.

The art is just okay. I did wish they someone more skilled drawing this book as it could have improved it. It was rather bland. I read that Simon Bisley is slated to draw the next book. That’s a good move as he could bring a lot to it. The artist section with pinups in the back is the best parts

This is a book that does have potential. It had a few things to slog through, but once you do it’s a decent comic. I’ll be reading the Bisley books of this if and when they appear. Overall, it’s a decent enough book that could be a bit better.

RATING: B-