PREVIEW: Binary Gray #8

Publisher: Assailant Comics
Writer: Chris Charlton
Artist: Rowel Roque
Colors: Anthonie Wilson
Cover: David Hollenbach
Review: Art Bee

During my review of Binary Gray #7, I described it as the eye of a hurricane. The calmness after the fallout of Issue #6 made it a good analogy. What I was not aware of was exactly how good of an analogy it was. Now that the calm eye of the storm has passed, we are hit with winds from the opposite direction. If you are reading this series (and you should be if you are interested in comics at all), Issue #8 is going to hit you like you are standing in someones back swing. Once you come to, you will be saying, “Wow!” rather than “Ow!”

The past several issues have been more about The Virtue and the Agency. They have been at each others throats trying to either protect or capture Alex Gray and his unusual powers. Issue #8 is primarily focused on Alex and his current situation. The cover of this issue should give you a pretty good clue as to what is about to happen.
The issue is entitled “Karma Police” and starts off with a huge piece of Alex Gray’s background. This first portion is centered on his father back in 1972. Even though this is a huge piece of the puzzle that is Alex Gray’s past, it raises more questions than it answers. Chris Charlton is doing a superb presentation of the story line and backstory. The last few issues have been ending in cliffhangers. When you reach the end of “Karma Police”, you will need to remind yourself to close your mouth. The ending will leave you in disbelief.

Now that I have mentioned the cover, David Hollenbach deserves some cheers for his unbelievable work on this cover. As I have mentioned before, David H.’s style and technique is very unique and gorgeous, and this cover featuring Alex Gray’s face is no exception. On September 19th the Cincinnati Comic Expo begins, and Chris Charlton has informed me that Hollenbach is supposed to be in attendance. It will be a great honor to finally meet this gentleman and talk to him, so be looking for a possible interview in the near future.

Rowel Roque and Anthonie Wilson have gotten back on the same page in this issue. In Issue #7 the coloring was off and looked very bland. Fortunately this is not the case in Issue #8. The coloring looks great. Shading and line look really clean and well done. My favorite panel in the issue is on page 8, the long panel on the right, where Alex Gray extends his finger and thumb causing an electric blue image to form at the end of the finger. The blue in this panel really sets of the image and the rest of the work on the page. The electric image looks to be really glowing blue.

Again I would love to provide spoilers and talk on and on about what occurs in the issue, but then why would you pick it to read it? That would not be very fair to Chris Charlton and Assailant Comics. Binary Gray #8 will be available in about two weeks. Preorder yours today at AssailantComics.com. While you are there you can download the first two issues of Binary Gray for free straight from the company. This series is getting really juicy. I am just waiting for a “Luke, I am your father” moment to spring forward in any issue in the near future.