Harlem #1 is a comic written by Morgan Iverson with pencils and inks by Wolly McNair and colors by Veronica Smith. Harlem is on the run from the police after a tragic and confusing event. This is a supernatural comic with heavy violence, cop drama, and a nearly all-Black cast. The leading lady here is Harlem Reising, she appears to be a teenage girl and due to a recent traumatic moment she has discovered that she has super-strength, super-speed and fire-based abilities. She has a brother named Tony and some close relatives who live nearby including her grandmother. This story begins with Harlem in her house confused and trying to piece together what just happened. As she walks through and sees the carnage she hears the police outside ordering her to come out with her hands up. Harlem quickly decides to flee and she jumps out of a nearby window. The violence in this comic is bloody with heavy, loose body parts, gore. The pacing here is steady and it has a gritty urban crime drama tone with thriller vibes. This has many violently and dramatically intense moments. The dialogue is very conversational and aggressive with a lot of back-and-forth. There is only one word-heavy page. This is an exciting debut issue that puts us right in the middle of a stressful and dangerous situation with a character who is scared, confused, and very powerful.
The art here is drawn in an urban comic art style with well done lighting. The color palette is overall realistic with most of the tones being black, gray, or red. Though there are a number of outdoor scenes there isn’t really much natural scenery. The two main locations are Harlem’s home and her relatives’ house. Backgrounds are usually gradient colors with the occasional object in the foreground or on the wall. The expression level here is above-average as these characters have reactions that can change multiple times per page. Emotions here tend to either be aggressive or somber with almost nothing in between. Faces here have an above-average level of detail and they can get animated which usually results in clear and obvious expressions. The supernatural effects here are fiery. Most of the violence is physical with bloody, gruesome attacks that lead to heavy gore; body part separation both big and small occur. The action scenes come in bursts of varying lengths with a smooth flow thanks to the high panel count.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural stories that star a young black woman with a majority black cast and features heavy violence and cop-related drama then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gore, gruesomeness.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“Bangin on my door like you aint got no sense!”
Purchase Link: https://www.4thwallpros.com/product-page/harlem-1-a-cover
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dannyjquick/harlem-and-the-black-rose-double-kickstarter/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24
Violent Pages: 10, for 42% 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 – 4
“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 – 5
“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 – 3
“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.”
