Esposito's & SVG's Most Pedestrian Work, Yet...
...Or, Walk This Way
Baltimore - September 2023
I first met Sean Von Gorman at Baltimore Comic-con last year when we boothed up together with Dean Haspiel and Peter Rostovsky. We had a blast. Sean gave me a chance to preview his upcoming title from Magma Comix, The Pedestrian. After reading it I knew I needed to get the word out about this wild, funky, quirky, human, interesting, intriguing (hang on, I’m almost outta adjectives), delightful, curious, and mysteriously subtle not-superhero-hero, slice-of-life, small-town, is-there-more-than-meets-the-eye comicbook. So, since these silly little reviews have become my most popular newsletter formats, I wanted to take a minute to give Sean (and Joey Esposito) a little love by reviewing their latest creation!
You Can Cross The Street, But Don’t Cross THE PEDESTRIAN!
Well, sorta…
From the press sheet:
Behold, the Pedestrian! A strange visitor speedwalks into Summer City and silently changes the lives of its residents. But not all is quiet in this sleepy, small town—an ancient conflict linked to the secret history of street signs is brewing! DON'T WALK... RUN! In The Pedestrian, justice always has the right of way!
Writer Joey Esposito (Batman: Urban Legends) reunites with Pawn Shop collaborator, artist Sean Von Gorman (Ghost Planet), for an offbeat tale that will stick with you!
Written by Joey Esposito, drawn by Sean Von Gorman, colored by Josh Jensen, lettered by Shawn Lee, edited by Bobby Curnow, published by Magma Comix.
Regular Cover A: Sean Von Gorman $3.99 • 32 pages (24 story)
Variant Cover B: Dean Haspiel $4.99 • 36 pages (24 story) • Cardstock cover
Incentive Cover C: Mike Allred
36 pages (24 story) • Cardstock cover
ON SALE: 8/7/2024
The story opens with us in a small, fairly nondescript town called Summer City. A young pawn shop clerk is closing up for the night. Nothing happens in small towns, right?
I mean, unless you’re in a Jordan Peele flick…
My Synopsis
The Pedestrian is like Keaton’s Birdman meets Kick-ass meets a straight-edge wanna-be beat cop with no badge in a white pajama suit with heroic delusions of grandeur and the parking skills of a black belt driving instructor.
My Review
Gods I love how oddball and quirky this is but it feels so very human, too!
Sean’s art gives you a sense of dread as the young pawn shop clerk is chased by a hooded stranger, and you get her sense of confusion after the “confrontation” is over. Sean’s sense of where the “camera” should be, properly framing the shot for readers, is impeccable. He conveys emotion not just through facial expression or body language but through scene-setting and choice of perspective.
Joey’s dialogue is admirably pithy and precise. I read this twice today because I was in awe at how much I “read” that wasn’t written. The dialogue is enough. The book isn’t burdened by an insecure writer trying to voice themselves over the art and screaming, “look at me you, f*cks!!!”. Something that I see way-too-often from a lot of indies — and as an upstart myself, I understand that, too: indies often feel they have one shot to get their audience so writers dump everything into dialogue and captions, cramping out the art, killing the pace, and absolutely destroying any chance some of us will read a second issue at all. It’s the ironic existence of an indie creator…
But, no. Joey holds back enough to get you wanting more, but gives enough to entertain and intrigue you.
Jensen’s colors — mostly a flat, cool palette — are as perfect for SVG’s art as Sean’s art is for Joey’s story. This book is [refreshingly] not over-rendered, and, in much the same way as Joey’s dialogue, doesn’t scream, “look how good at the Photoshops I am!”, and really gives the art the right depth and mood and builds up the emotion of each moment.
Rounding out the art team is Shawn Lee’s letters — I was not aware of Shawn’s work prior to this, but I’m actually ready to email Sean back and get Shawn’s contact info so I can hire them myself…
For those who follow my social media, you know how much of a lettering snob I can be — it’s something that usually is the worst part of an indiecomicbook because creators feel this unusual urge to cut corners and they do it at the two worst spots (IMO): letterer and editor.
A Letterer is as important to your comicbook as is the Penciller, Inker, and Colorist, and sometimes even more so!
Not here! Continuing the established trends set before, Shawn is a master craftsperson. The lettering flows easily, the SFX are spot-on, and the combination of a confident, pithy script gives them the ability to let Sean’s art breathe and tell the story visually.
Not to be outdone by the creative team, Bobby Curnow did the one thing an editor should do: not be noticed by the reader. After two consecutive reads, I didn’t catch any spelling or grammatical errors, and few editor’s boxers — none? Shit, maybe I gotta go read it again, ROFL — with a clean set of dialogue, easy page flow, and strong storytelling at every level, this is my first choice for that offbeat comic read.
Reserve you copy at your local comic shop! Hits stores in August! You can learn more here: https://magmacomix.com/blogs/news/the-pedestrian-1-exclusive-magma-comix-first-look
My Rating
I know some will say that I only review stuff I like so why bother with a rating, but here you go. I do usually only review books that I think are good, and here’s why: anyone can be a d*ck and shred a book. It’s easy to not like a book or premise or product. We all complain about the things we don’t like all day, so I choose to give people joy and rate/share the things I do like.
So, eat it, turds. 💩
🌰🌰🌰🌰🌰 (5/5 Acorns1)
Final Word
Not everyone is going to like this book or appreciate the art choices. That’s okay. If you want something different, offbeat, fun, and quirky, with a great script and dope art, then dive in. If you want something different for your superhero or slice of life reads, then dive in. If you’re a butthead and just want to be cantankerous and haughty, fill a dumpster halfway with concrete, let it set firmly, and then dive in. Head first.
Love you. 😘
Yes, that’s a chestnut you goddamn Greenpeace tree-hugging, Wild Birds Unlimited Membership-holding nerds. Go away. It’s my acorn until Apple stops being stupid and gives us a f*cking ACORN emoji and a f*cking SQUIRREL emoji!!!
I, too, am excited for having gotten an early peek at The Pedestrian. A perfect comic book featuring a fun new take on the superhero genre. A character study that sits smack dab between my New Brooklyn Universe (see: The Red Hook, The Purple Heart, et al), and the Xion Universe (see: Spider-Squirrel, Trash Panda, et al). I'm honored to have contributed my sensibility to The Pedestrian lore and I hope to do more.
Dude, I LOVE your cover!!