Concrete: Stars Over Sand #1
Creative Team
writer/artist: PAUL CHADWICK
publisher: DARK HORSE COMICS
Western comics have battled between their disposable origins and the potential of continuous, longform storytelling. It's an old adage that one can jump into any issue of a comic book and find something of value inside of it, but as the industry becomes more and more reflective of decompressed storytelling that demands you start at the beginning.
Concrete: Stars Over Sand #1 is the start of a mini-series that makes similar demands. It is the continuation of the adored independent comic Concrete that assumes the audience interested in a new story would be one that already has a deep familiarity with its previous publications. It doesn’t exist to find a new audience of potential readers, but a labor of love from the author to continue their story as they would have so many years ago.
I, however, am a reader whose eyes were grabbed by the solicitation for Stars Over Sand with zero history for its precursor text. The image of a lonely golem, overlooking endless desert in a painterly manner grabbed my attention and as a result of the old adage that a comic reader can start anywhere, gave it a shot, and found myself in love with its themes regardless of how little I could understand about the characters and their past.
However, the strength of this first issue is how well the characterization of its main cast is communicated, alongside its themes of melancholic anxiety. It's clear from the jump that our main trio of characters are all facing a sort of quiet dread that’s causing them a great deal of internal struggle as they journey towards a destination they don’t feel quite prepared for. It's a simple struggle, one that I found immediate thematic relatability in that is bolstered by Paul Chadwick’s focus on environmental detail. Haunted pasts, wary futures, and convoluted presents all quietly blend together into a rich atmosphere that had me fully engaged for the entire issue’s page count.
It's an opening issue that, for all of its ties to previous stories, begs both its characters and its readers to stop and smell the roses for just a minute longer. As lost as I was on the how and why of the plot, I was enamored by the who and where of its themes. Whether the cast is sitting in silence beneath the desert sky or simply pausing to observe the world around them, Chadwick lingers on moments that would feel incidental in most comics. Those quiet stretches become the emotional backbone of the issue, inviting the reader to exist alongside the characters instead of racing toward the next plot revelation. The extracurricular details of a long-running story never pulled me out of the work as a whole. It can be difficult to engage with longform fiction when you're missing so much context, but the subject matter of this first issue goes a long way toward making that uncertainty part of its thematic point. Once you realize the ground zero of this new series is emotional rather than contextual, a journey of beauty and reflection opens itself up to the reader with open arms.
There’s also something to be said for the technical prowess on display in terms of Chadwick’s visual storytelling. The illustration style itself is rooted in the colorful blockiness of a classic Jack Kirby comic, but focused on the most minute of things. Whereas Jack’s work went as grand as possible, Chadwick’s approach to science fiction grounded in the granularity of human struggles allows him to turn something as small as a bird chirping in the midnight grass as spectacular as Galactus looming over a planet. That there is the beginning beauty of Concrete: Stars Over Sand #1, and as a newly minted fan of this character, am excited for where the remaining chapters of this story take me.
Final Verdict
Concrete: Stars Over Sand #1 is worthy of attention from new readers, just as much as it does from fans of Chadeick’s initial work with the character. Sure, it may not actively try to engage new readers by bringing them up to speed, but a beautiful set of unique themes awaits anyone willing to give it a chance.
| Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Writing | 8 |
| Story/Plot | 7.5 |
| Art/Line Work | 8.5 |
| Colors | 8.5 |
| Final Score | 8.1/10 |