TAZÍ

Details

• Writer/Artist: Daniel Warren Johnson
• Colorist: Mike Spicer
• Letterer: Rus Wooton
• Publisher: Image Comics (SkyBound)
• No. of issues: 12
• Year: 2017-2018

The narrative

Thea and her father’s whole clan, the roto, want revenge on the paznina that ruined her family and took her drawing arm. But Thea’s quest is different than at first thought, and ferocious battles between man, machines and monsters lie ahead.

The characters, especially the main characters Thea and Rollo where really fleshed-out. Thea is the typical ISFP, a textbook Artist and Adventurer. She is driven by an intense, private emotional core, her introverted feeling. Her goal in life is to draw and when that is taken from her she adapts her extroverted Sensing to become a fierce highly adaptable warrior. But besides the war going on around her physically, there is also a mental struggle going on where she is in a constant tug and pull with her own values against those of her father and the clan. Whereas Thea is definitely the artist, Rollo is definitely the dreamer (INFP) with a big 5-wing (enneagram). He is the moral compass of the story. He refuses to let the war dictate who he is and struggles with the position of a warrior his father is forcing him into becoming. Furthermore, there are other characters that were very interesting and fleshed-out, but because of avoiding spoilers, I will avoid mentioning them. But DWJ (That is Daniel Warren Johnson) certainly has a knack for character building and emotional dilemmas.

The pacing of the comic runs smoothly and not too fast nor too slow. It just flows. DWJ got the right momentum in places, like ending the issue with an enormous cliffhanger.

The art

Daniel Warren Johnson doesn’t just write and create the comic – he also draws them! And the line work is so distinct in my opinion: it’s a kind of gritty, dirty linework style drawing with many colors that showcases characters in peak physical exertion, like extended limbs or distorted faces, or very intricate drawn machinery. He also draws some beautiful splash pages, as shown in these examples:

I heard he primarily works with traditional tools (pens/brushes) which allows the ink to look “unruly” – and it’s certainly that – it’s kind of reading a movie – but then your remember it’s a comic book by Daniel Warren Johnson! In this case you can even make a case for it being a Studio Ghibli movie, because it is heavily influenced on those and Mad Max. And I have seen some of these movies and I must say: I definitely prefer this comic!

There is something I haven’t said, but is worth mentioning: his onomatopoeia (Did I wrote this right? Please tell me I wrote this right), that is: the sound effects are part of the art, a kind of environmental SFX – a physical object within the scene. Here is an example:

And at the end of the comic we also have some quiet moments – emotional moments – which are really well drawn. The expressions are everything, in my opinion – those make a comic for me feel even more alive – more alive than even a good book can do most of the time.

And last but not least: the color-palette. Mike Spicer (in collaboration with the man himself) created a look that balances the gritty heavy-metal aesthetic with studio Ghibli vibrancy. A great combination.

The verdict

Let me start by saying that there are no obvious low-points for me besides that it ended. Period. Daniel Warren Johnson proves with this comic that he is and will for a long time be a pioneer in the field of comics. I’ve already read Murder Falcon and his Transformers-run before this, but Extremity gives of a whole other vibe – a vibe that, yes indeed, is more extreme in nature, while also having good philosophical undertones (why do we fight?) and makes some grieving sacrifices. While those sacrifices also happened in his other comics (which where awesome btw and I will probably reread and review them in the future), here they had, for the most part, more impact on me. Furthermore the whole concept of plains in the sky was in my book pretty original and the ending was just perfect and wished for more. So I definitely recommend you reading this comic run.

Here I give the vibes/moods this piece of art gave me. This is my equivalent to the star rating scale: Adventurous, emotional, reflective, sad and tense.

This was my first review, so please let me now what you thought of it in the comments below. Pros and cons are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading my review and see you in the next one!

Yours,

Rain