Mandrill, P.I. #1 is a comic written by Christopher Brimmage with art by Carlos Trigo. An unlucky private investigator is hired to investigate a murder. This is a noir mystery comic with many anthropomorphic characters and references. The main man for this story is Manny Mandrill, he is a private investigator who regularly finds himself in dangerous situations. He has a good reputation for solving cases and enjoys a good drink. He’ll come across many creatures that are references to ones seen in cartoons as well as some original ones; they all tend to have big personalities and can steal the scene. The story begins with Manny walking to his office after an eventful night that he’s having trouble remembering. He waxes poetic about himself and the neighborhood he’s in when he reaches his office and discovers someone there. This takes place in a world with a certain level of cartoon logic. The violence here is physical with some hard shot but no blood or gore. The pacing is slow for the most part as Manny likes to ham it up. The tone attempts to be serious but the cartoonish environment can lighten things up. There are many intense moments due to violent danger and surprise information. Most of the dialogue here is noir-like and inside Manny’s head but outside of that it is very conversational with a talking style reminiscent of classic black-and-white movies and shows. There are many word-heavy as well as thick text blocks and bubbles. This is a debut issue that gives us a close look at the leading character and the strange world he lives in, with an intriguing mystery pushing things forward.

            The art here is reminiscent of early cartoons like Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera shows. The detailing matches the different styles with overall notable lighting and shading. There is a wide range of colors here with the palettes changing depending on what part of the world Manny is in. This story takes place entirely in a city so the scenery is different buildings with the rare palm tree. The primary location here is Manny’s office but a decent number of scenes take place on the street in various neighborhoods and at a movie studio. The neighborhoods have defined characteristics from a black-and-white one to ones entirely populated by rabbits. The backgrounds here show a solid or gradient color more often than the surroundings of the scene. The expression level here is slightly below-average as it can be hard to tell what look these characters are giving off. The emotional range is a mix of anger, fear, and sadness with some mischievous happiness. The faces have a decent level of detail and do look like the animals then they are supposed to; this is the reason some of the emotions can be difficult to decipher. The animal characters here are different levels of anthropomorphic but the faces are usually accurate. The violence here is mostly physical with brutal shots but no blood or gore. The action scenes tend to be at least a couple pages long but they flow smoothly.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like noir mystery stories that have a large cast of anthropomorphic animals with violence, drama, and references then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

PG-13. Violence.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I don’t wanna think about the betrayal…”

 

Digital Link: https://www.cbrimmage.com/shop/p/mandrill-pi-issue-1-pdf

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brimmage/mandrill-pi-1-a-noir-detective-tale-for-cartoon-lovers/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 8, for 33% 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 – 3

“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 – 1

“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 – 1

“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.”