Spontaneous #5

Written by Joe Harris
Art by Brett Weldele

Spontaneous is one of those mini-series that comes straight out of left field.  It features a bizarre topic, characters with questionable motives, and an unconventional approach to art and colouring.  It could easily have been a total flop, but instead, it's a very impressive comic, showing tight plotting and some very nice character work.

Melvin Reyes has dedicated his life to investigating the reason why former employees of Grumm Industries have a tendency towards spontaneous combustion, starting with his own father when Melvin was quite young.  He's been accompanied by a young wannabe journalist with delusions of grandeur, Emily.

Now, much more has been revealed, and we learn that Melvin may not be as innocent as he seems.  There are a couple of confrontations in this issue - Melvin is pursued by the FBI, and Emily and the local sheriff face old infirm Mr. Grumm, who has more going on than anyone is aware.

This has been a very cool comic.  Weldele employs the same style of art as he used in The Light, washing just about everything out gray, green, or sepia tones, which gives the light of the fire some extra warmth and menace.  Joe Harris also wrote the recent Oni series Ghost Projekt, and so far as I'm concerned, he's 2 for 2 with his work at that company.  I hope he something new waiting in the wings.

Spontaneous #4

Written by Joe Harris
Art by Brett Weldele

There are a few unexpected things that happen in this month's issue of Spontaneous, the terrific mini-series about spontaneous human combustion, and the young man who has been investigating it in his home town.  We've known for a while now that there is a connection between the victims of this horrible phenomenon and Grumm Industries, a military contractor for whom they all worked in the past.

The issue opens on a flashback to a time when Melvin's dad had to meet with Mr. Grumm (it would have been nice if the art had somehow made the flashback clearer), and the rest of the issue is spent having characters put together some of the clues that Harris has been dropping since the first issue.

This is a very good comic, with some unexpected twists along the way.  Weldele's art is great, and I am looking forward to seeing how all of this is going to turn out.

Spontaneous #2

Written by Joe Harris
Art by Brett Weldele

It's been a while since Free Comic Book Day, so I sort of forgot about this title, but was very pleased to see it scheduled for release this week.  The way this issue was structured made it very easy to slide right back in to the story, which is pretty interesting.

Melvin's father died of spontaneous human combustion (SHC) when Melvin was a small child.  Since then, he's made a study of the phenomenon, and has become very good at predicting who may be a candidate (for reasons which start to become clear over the course of this issue).  He's partnered up with a freelance (read unemployed) journalist, who is questioning whether he should simply predict SHCs, or try to help people.

Harris is setting up a very compelling little story, with hints of cover-up and collusion at some level, and lots of great character work.  Melvin is a pretty complicated guy, which Harris suggests very well.  There are a couple of bizarre elements in here, such as the police chief who brings her young daughter to work with her without explanation, but I am definitely engrossed by this story.  I love the Erin Brokovich references.

Brett Weldele deserves a lot of credit for this book working so well.  Like he did with electric light in The Light, he makes excellent use of colour to convey the harshness and danger of the fires.  It's surprising to me just how much Weldele has grown on me as an artist - I pretty much hated his work on Julius back in the day.

Spontaneous #1

Written by Joe Harris
Art by Brett Weldele

I think Oni has a winning formula for dealing with Free Comic Book Day.  Instead of giving out short anthologies, or previewing upcoming books, they give the entire first issue of a new series.  It worked last year with Sixth Gun (which is an excellent series), and has now definitely gotten me interested in reading the rest of Spontaneous.

Although, to be honest, I would have bought this if it weren't free.  Spontaneous is written by Joe Harris, who impressed me with Ghost Projekt, and is drawn by Brett Weldele, an impressive artist whose last work, The Light, put him into my must-buy category.

Spontaneous is about a young man who has a system for tracking down people who are going to spontaneously combust.  He attempts to interview a man in a mall foodcourt before he goes up in flames, a case which draws the attention of a plucky young wanna-be journalist.  Together, they start working the guy's system to find the next potential victim.

Harris hints that there may be something about SHC that makes it not so spontaneous, although at this early stage of the series, we have no clue what that might be.  Weldele uses the same digital colouring techniques he used in The Light to add an unearthly quality to the pages, and to use light to draw the reader's eyes into his scenes.  He's grown a lot as an artist in the last few years.

As with Sixth Gun, this first issue is being offered for purchase alongside the second issue of the series in the latest Previews, if you're interested in reading it but missed your chance at picking it up for free.  It's worth ordering.