Review - Double Jumpers #1

Today's video games have reached a point where they're a tad complex. That's not to deride them for offering gamers a myriad of controls and options; rather, it's just to say that we've come a long way from a four-directional pad and two action buttons. Because games have become so complex, working on them has also become an almost lavish, high profile production. Publishers pull out all the stops for that one AAA title, keeping it in development for a few years at least.

This is the world Double Jumpers lives in, written by Dave Dwonch and illustrated by Bill Blankenship and published by Action Lab Entertainment. And it's a crazy world indeed.

Double Jumpers #1 starts off with the end. Jason Mulliet, Maxine Sinclair, Andrew Reyes and Milo Jenkins are game designers who work for Danielle Miyamoto. Their game, Dungeon Lords 2: The Darkheart Chronicles is being debuted at E3 by Danielle. As with any unveiling, the game if subject to criticisms from attendees, which doesn't encourage Danielle.

As such, Danielle uses her own methods of motivation to get Jason and his team to make sure the game addresses the criticisms. This leads to an all-night gaming session where the developers use some form of virtual reality glasses to get fully immersed in the game. When it's all said and done, they have a much better understanding of the characters.

There's a good blending of reality and fantasy in the comic. This is something where the line between the two is blurred constantly and could possibly get a little confusing to the reader. There were no problems like this in the first issue though and Double Jumpers #1 did a great job of making sure the reader stayed caught up with everything.

There's something a little off about Double Jumpers #1 in that the story's pacing feels a little erratic at times. Dwonch has taken an interesting concept with regards to people and the characters we play in video games and sort of flips it on its head. The dialogue is a little intense though, almost immature at times. It's apparent Dwonch wants to make the characters believable as developers, but their conversations almost become caricatures themselves.

Blankenship's art is pretty well done. It's bold and colorful and helps to draw the reader into the fantasy realm so to speak. It would've been nice to see Maxine and Danielle look a bit more different in the face, but as it is it's not confusing or anything since they have different colored hair. The artwork could get crazier as the series progresses depending on what fantasy settings are included by Dwonch.

On the whole, Double Jumpers #1 is a solid read. It's a comic that is only as serious as it needs to be and has laid the groundwork well for the subsequent issues. The concept of choosing who you really want to be will no doubt be explored with all sorts of tomfoolery, which will help keep the comic relatively lighthearted.

The issue is slated for a March release and you can check out some interiors below.