A Sort of Homecoming
By Damon Hurd and Pedro Camello
Published by Alternative Comics
The creative team that delivered last year's My Uncle Jeff is back with A Sort of Homecoming, described as "a three-part graphic novel."
Homecoming concerns itself with friendship and regret, specifically the life-long friendship of Owen and David. The two meet on Owen's first day at a new school and quickly hit it off, beginning a relationship that is tested by issues of relationships and popularity, but seems to sustain itself through even the worst of times, until things take a tragic turn.
It's difficult to judge the graphic novel by the incomplete advance version I received (the full version of part one is due later this month), but the good news is that the narrative is a bit more ambitious than the generally well-received My Uncle Jeff, with a wider cast of characters.
Hurd's script seems a bit heavy-handed, with numerous scene transitions recalling Alan Moore's mannered early DC work -- the technique can be clever when used sparingly, but it's on display on virtually every page here, and it gets tiresome after the third or fourth time. The script is also a bit wordy, and would-be comics writers with any respect for my opinion at all would do well to take special note of page five: I found myself skipping those long blocks of text. Find another way to integrate that information, because that effect doesn't even work when the likes of Moore or Bendis try to pull it off. It's just annoying.
I'm interested in the dynamics of the relationship between Owen and David that will be revealed as the novel progresses, and Camello's storytelling is sharp (although some pages could use a bit more contrast in the way of black spotting). There's a lot of potential here, but Hurd's scripting holds more promise than excellence at this early stage. I'm interested to see if he continues to grow and fulfill that potential. Grade: 3.5/5