Art by Buster Moody
Colors by Ryan Hill
www.taskforceradsquad.com
Comic books lend themselves to a greater variety of storytelling than any other medium I have ever encountered. We see this diversity in small press books far more than we do from major publishers. The reason why is simple, untested ideas put profit margins at risk. I'm not trying to be cynical, but I think we can all agree the major comic publishers are structured to generate revenue. That's not to say small publishers aren't interested in profit, but for them the game is different; the little guys have to stand out among all their peers while competing with marketing teams representing interests from Time Warner and Disney. That's not an environment where playing it safe yields results. So, in order to gain attention these creators need to break new ground. I think this week's selected title illustrates that idea clearly.
The universe was safe, until Cody released all those imprisoned monsters during his space wizard training. Now, Cody, his sister, Kate, and their friends must save Earth from Mistress Flagitiox, but, hey, maybe that will help Shinji conquer his boredom and give Clint more time to perfect his music.
I'm hard pressed to pin a genre on Task Force Rad Squad, I think a safe description would be that it is an action/ comedy in a fantasy space setting. However, casting such a broad explanation fails to highlight the nuances that make this book interesting.
The story is framed in a Power Rangers-esque setting, complete with color indexed uniforms and Rad Rides that merge together to form a Radbot, for dealing with larger foes. This accessorizing of the heroes' arsenal harkens back to marketing strategies deployed a couple of decades ago to sell merchandise for television shows. While it is strange to see the same storytelling device in use without the corresponding toys, this adds a level of camp that feels almost necessary for the kind of story they are trying to tell. I don't know what to call this subgenre, but I've seen it used in other small press books recently. To see multiple people drawing inspiration from the same source seems to imply that this idea has infiltrated the popular culture, meaning we're likely to see more, not less, of it in the future.
I imagine writing a book like this would be deceptively difficult. The setting lends itself to a certain degree of exposition, however too much would slow the story down. In Task Force Rad Squad, Goellner has found an effective balance in the economy of his words; there's just enough clunky dialogue to achieve comedic effect, but not so much that you become impatient reading through it. Also, I enjoyed the inclusion of “net speak” into the book, it adds a youthful tone to characters that may have otherwise been lost.
Buster Moody seems at times a mad genius to me. His artwork is reminiscent of someone like Robert Crumb, but for Moody the psychedelia is infused with a gritty realism that creates his own, unique, style. Simply put, Task Force Rad Squad doesn't look like a mainstream comic book, it looks better. Moody's attention to detail breathes life into the world they have created. Perhaps my favorite example of this comes from how he incorporates sound effects into the art.
Finally, a lot of small press books avoid color because of the cost in printing, but the style of story the creators have chosen to tell here requires color. Ryan Hill goes beyond the norm to making even the most mundane background a flurry of color. Perhaps one of the benefits of having a color indexed cast is that it allows your colorist the opportunity to express himself.
As I said before, small press creators have to take risks in order to get noticed and I believe the creators of Task Force Rad Squad understand that, how else could they create such a “radical” book? If you want to check it out for yourself, head over to their website where you can download a digital copy or buy one in print.
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