Review - Heads #1


"Well that got a little bit intense."

Ever find yourself in a new city with people giving you odd looks and a bag full of something that needs delivering? Fortunately for you, you're probably not symbolized by a simple color, like Yellow in Heads #1. The book is written and illustrated by Nicholas Gilligan Williams.

Yellow is a man with an important package and a new city to navigate his way through. He's got a friend there named Blue, who just so happens to be dating Pink. Meanwhile, Red wants what Yellow has and will go to great lengths to get it. There's a lot of people and places aiming to ruin a man's day.

Yellow is characterized as someone who is a stranger in an even stranger place. Williams navigates him through the dangerous streets of the new city, seeking to deliver a mysterious package that is set against a larger backdrop. There's a killer on the loose apparently that seems to frame the entire story, but little more is revealed other than a few pages at the beginning. The remainder of the book focuses on Yellow discovering things about the city, mostly surrounding the harsh environment and citizens. Williams brings the character along with Yellow, exposing both to the same dangers at the same time.

Illustrations pop off the page, courtesy of Williams' talent. The city is illustrated with vague detail and in green, while each of the characters are colored with their respective namesakes. Those character models are slight exaggerations of traditional models, even showing some graffiti influences at points. The different characters also evidence a wide range of appearances, giving the reader greater insights into the depraved city the colors inhabit. There's a good mix of panel layouts, even if they're largely of the rectangle and square varieties.

Heads #1 is a pretty trippy book. There's a lot going on in the first issue, even if it feels like not really a lot of stuff happens in the first issue. It does showcase a lot of universe building and that Williams has something in mind, even leaving the contents of the bag a mystery to the reader. The illustrations are the strong point of the book for sure, which doesn't detract from the story at all, but are simply very fascinating. Additionally, there are some subtle touches throughout that really make the book feel like something solid is brewing. Heads #1 is interesting and has a unique look that should make it stand out and is worth checking out.

Heads #1 is available now via Comixology.

Comments