The Cutting Room Floor #1 is a comic written & lettered by Daniel Torres with art by Hernan Gonzalez. A temporal editor sits across from a man who will do evil in the future. This is a dramatic time travel science fiction comic that has historical elements and gets very philosophical. The main man here is Frank, he is a temporal editor who is tasked with taking down a man in his past for the evil he will do in the future. A temporal editor is an occupation in an organization where a select few go on missions to different moments in time in order to prevent future negative outcomes. This story begins with Frank standing across from a man who is tied to a chair with a bag on his head. After asking a few questions and hearing the man’s pleas Frank removes the bag and internally assesses the victim’s appearance. He then begins his mental torment of the man about the evil he’s done in a future he has not yet lived. Outside of the time traveling this seems to take place in the modern world. The violence is a bit bloody with light guresomeness but it is rare. The pacing here is a bit slower than average as this has the tone of a one room TV episode centered on a conversation between two people. There are numerous intensely dramatic moments with a few violent ones. The dialogue is mainly conversational with a lot of back-and-forth and a significant amount of narration from Frank on what he’s doing. There aren’t any word heavy pages though the seesawing between spoken and internal words can make it read a bit slower. This is an intriguing debut issue that dramatically illustrates what a temporal editor goes through and how their attempts to fix the future can affect them. There are two bonus stories “A Crumbling Forecast” and “Temporal Tango” that show the adventures of other temporal editors.
The art here is realistically detailed with a strong focus on lighting and shading. This is in black-and-white with some occasional Ben Day/halftone dots. There isn’t any natural scenery aside from a cactus in one of the bonus stories. The main location here is a large room filled with covered and uncovered paintings on easels along with various tools of the trade and chairs. Backgrounds don’t usually show the immediate surroundings; instead they tend to opt for ambient and mood-intensifying backdrops. The expression level here is around average overall as the temporal editors tend to be unflinching but their victims have very strong reactions to what goes on. Emotions here leans towards sadness as there are tears, snot, and sweat along with feelings of confusion and shock. The faces can be very detailed with realistic features so the expressions look strong. The violence is bloody with light gruesomeness and it involves a gun. The action scene is just a few panels(counting the bonus stories)
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like dramatic time travel science fiction stories that star a man whose job it is to protect the future and that features historical fiction and philosophy then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“You sentenced the innocent to death. Why?”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/talesfromtoxicpond/the-cutting-room-floor-1-a-sci-fi-noir/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 33
Violent Pages: 2, for 6% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 2
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 3
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 2
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 1
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
