One of the fun parts of going to a convention for me is wandering around the show floor, seeing if I can find anything new that catches my eye.
Well, wearing a lab coat is bound to get my attention, that's for sure! The folks behind First Law of Mad Science were so decked out, and I stopped by to see what they had to offer. They were kind enough to provide me a copy of issue one (which I reviewed here), and I definitely liked what I saw, even if I haven't gotten around to picking up the rest of the series yet.
There was a lot of world-building to do in issue one, but I thought Isenberg and Mertz did it quite well. One of the keys to this was creating characters I was immediately interested in. Too often, those working with a cool idea (and in this case, it's advanced science tinged with Lovecraft) forget that if your characters are ciphers, readers aren't going to stick around. In the case of Mad Science, the family we focus on are quirky, likable, and have their own distinct personalities right out of the gate.
It also helps that artist David Lapham is above average for a project you'll find in Artists Alley. He's very good at detail work and panel construction, which is the other thing that set this one up as a recommended comic for me. I see a lot of generic art work in comics of this nature, and it just kills them for me. Lapham gets the need to do it right, and it shows. (NOTE: For whatever reason, they don't have Lapham doing the covers. The interior art is light years above its covers.)
First Law of Mad Science is up to issue four, giving potential readers a lot of story to invest in once they've decided the first issue tickles their fancy. Anyone who likes scientific horror books is definitely going to want to check this one out when they make it to Baltimore this coming weekend.
Stuck in your lab and can't make Baltimore Comic-Con? You can go to their website here or, if you're a digital type guy like me, grab their work on Comixology here.
