Drawing Blood: The Story Behind The Stories-Volume 1 Spilled Ink

 

DRAWING BLOOD

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORIES

VOLUME 1:

SPILLED INK

Created by/Story by: Kevin Eastman & David Avallone

Script: David Avallone

Artwork: Ben Bishop

Colors: Brittany Peer(1-3), Tomi Varga(4)

Letters: Taylor Esposito

Flashbacks: Layout-Ben Bishop, Finals-Kevin Eastman

Hallucinations: Layout-Ben Bishop, Finals-Troy Little

Drawing Blood is a Kevin Eastman graphic novel funded through Kickstarter. I actually got the first volume at New Mexico Comic Expo 2019 and signed up for the second volume. Drawing Blood is a spoof of TMNT and dramatization of Kevin Eastman’s life. A lot of the talent in this book are people from the ongoing TMNT title. This book is a drop in the pool of spilled ink.

There is a foreword by Shane Bookman, the main character, which is pretty meta since it even mentions Kevin Eastman. The book starts with a pretty intriguing hook which seems to take place in the present or future. Everything goes to hell in a hand basket pretty quickly. Then it jumps to the past with a completely different kind of hook. There’s a little flashback with Shane Bookman’s idol, Frank Forrest. Shane gets some bad news about his Frank Miller inspired idol. No doubt the jokes and references are a little cheesy and on the nose but it fits right in with the one of the book. There’s a little hallucination Bookman has with his original characters, the Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls, and throughout. You see how he got involved with the drug dealers from the beginning of the book. Shane is also involved in his own broadway show. Of course there’s some Con(vention) drama as well. There are some deep cuts, nice moments, things that seem really close to reality. Makes you wonder. There’s a lot going on in this book, almost too much.

That’s what I simultaneously liked and disliked about this book. Technically it’s only four issues which is quite impressive how much story they packed into this book. At the same time there’s so much going on it seems it only touches the tip of the iceberg. It’s been three years since I signed up for volume two and I don’t even know when the campaign for it even started otherwise I might actually be upset. 

One thing I was definitely not upset about was the art. So very rarely do you have multiple artists with different styles that actually mesh and flow well. Not only did it work but it made more sense that way. With flashbacks, hallucinations, and the main story, it could not have been handled better. All the art was strong, including the colors, and letters were pretty solid too. 

All in all, I don’t want to wait any longer for more. I can’t wait to dive back into this semi realistic world to see how all of it expands especially the wacky and wild stuff like the Ronin cats, Kevin Eastman style flashbacks, and hallucinations. Most importantly I want to get to know some of the characters better. This is definitely a STRONG BUY for me as a huge TMNT, Kevin Eastman, and comic fan, so if you’re like me and this is right down your alley, sign up for the Kickstarter for Volume 1 and 2 when it finally comes out.

Judgement: STRONG BUY!!!

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