A review by yonnyan
Excellence, Vol. 1: Kill the Past by Emilio Lopez, Brandon Thomas, Khary Randolph
2.0
There were a lot of things I liked about this. The stunning and vibrant artwork, the allegory of how Black people are always forced to stay down and to always be abused. If they work hard to better themselves and become equals to White people, then there’s always something lurking in the shadows to keep them oppressed. The themes and commentary on a society hellbent on maintaining the status quo of supremacy was super intriguing and the best part of story. However, so much of the potential that this narrative has in becoming outstandingly contemplative is lost in the jumbled mess that is the plot execution.
The first half, even with it being non-linear, did a good job of establishing a foundation for the characters to grow and a cool magical world set in an urban atmosphere. But as it progressed, it became more and more focused on the inner monologues of one of the protagonists, which didn’t mesh cohesively at all in certain sections. It became painfully confusing and almost indecipherable with relation to the goal or ultimate endgame of what the characters wanted/needed.
So, while Excellence was quite promising, it definitely could’ve used more polishing in terms of the narrative structure, particularly with pairing it to the artwork. The tricky thing about comics is that the art is 50% or more of the story and when the dialogue or words don’t compliment it or even reference it (so to speak), it won’t tell the story well at all, which is what happened here.
The first half, even with it being non-linear, did a good job of establishing a foundation for the characters to grow and a cool magical world set in an urban atmosphere. But as it progressed, it became more and more focused on the inner monologues of one of the protagonists, which didn’t mesh cohesively at all in certain sections. It became painfully confusing and almost indecipherable with relation to the goal or ultimate endgame of what the characters wanted/needed.
So, while Excellence was quite promising, it definitely could’ve used more polishing in terms of the narrative structure, particularly with pairing it to the artwork. The tricky thing about comics is that the art is 50% or more of the story and when the dialogue or words don’t compliment it or even reference it (so to speak), it won’t tell the story well at all, which is what happened here.