1st Impression: Trish Out of Water # 1

TRISH OUT OF WATER # 1
Written by Vince Hernandez
Art by Giuseppe Cafaro, Ruben Curto & Studio Parlapa
Aspen Comics

FLIPPING THROUGH:

                Our book starts out as we meet our lead, Trish Powell. This seemingly normal teenage girl deals with her parents having arguments. As she goes to school and meets up with her friends, she is suddenly struck with an illness.  As the book continues, Trish’s boyfriend, Steven, states his worries about her then mentions his upcoming party.  Yet, Trish is struck with an unexplainable illness as well as her hands turning … translucent.
                And Trish gets sick again and tries to talk to her mother but her Mother is seemingly hiding things herself. That all shakes as Trish loses two people she cares about while being betrayed by another as the book ends with a “tsunami” of a cliffhanger.

ART:

                Cafaro gives a strong first impression as we get characters of different sizes, colors and shapes alongside realized backgrounds. Everyone seems to have distinctive faces while Cafaro also relay emotion through facial expression and body moment. There is a good texture with things like hair and other objects. Curto and Studio Parlapa give Cafaro’s pencils a very bright, earthly look. And while I didn’t like it when I first started reading, it quickly grew on me. The coloring helps not only establish characters but mood and make the book stand out from the other books in Aspen. It is a little getting used to with all the bright whites but overall, a solid job.

WRITING:

                Hernandez provides a great first issue full of mystery, characterization and good set up. Trish comes off as a believable and likable lead character. Trish’s supporting characters feel very authentic as well. From her parents’ arguments to her friends’ banter, Trish’s world gets realized quickly yet very organically thanks to Hernandez. The pacing of the issue was perfect as nothing was held on to too long or too short.

                I also enjoyed that Trish may be connected to The Blue from “Fathom” as well; yet, Hernandez only gives three hints of that throughout the book. And, kudos to Hernandez for ending the book with a great and emotional cliffhanger that gets the ball rolling. One of the best #1^st issues of any book I have read. EVER.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

                We have believable characters in a real world having real world problems as it slowly goes a bit more sci fi as the issue goes along. The lead is likable, strong and interesting to watch for reaction. There is a good amount of mystery as well as clever dialogue. Nothing feels like it is useless in this book. The art is solid and while the coloring is a bit different, it does work well for the book.

RATING:
                The weird coloring aside … this book was GREAT! I give Trish Out of Water #1 an 8 …. Out of 10.