GET IN THE GAME – The Honest Review

In GET IN THE GAME, available from Source Point Press on April 28th, 2021, an eclectic collection of comics creators are each tasked with creating a comic short based on a single prompt: “Video Games.” These are their stories.

The Details

• Written By: Assorted
• Art By: Assorted
• Colors By: Assorted
• Letters By: Assorted
• Cover Art By: Ryan Lee
• Cover Price: $14.99
• Release Date: April 28, 2021

Was It Good?

It has some admirable points that should appeal to a wide range of video game players, especially the hardcore variety.

While each creative team is given a blank slate to create the story they could imagine, there are definitely recurring themes. The one theme that sticks out more than others is the idea of neglecting the real world in favor of a virtual one. The neglect is driven by a number of reasons — to avoid pain, to escape the mundane, or to live the life a player wishes they had.

This is an anthology, so expect the quality of the art and writing to vary. At best, you have a collection of unique stories. At worst, you could say some of the newer creators have room to grow.

You can check out a preview of select pages in our GET IN THE GAME preview.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

As this is an anthology, we’ll quickly cover the highlights and general impressions of each story, good or bad.

Logging Out

Corey Maslowski (writer), Seth Damoose (art), Stephanie Varga (colors), Jim McClain (letters)

Two players on the opposite side of their shared game experience form a bond. That bond when one player transitions from life to death through a terminal illness, while the other transition from male to female. The lesson here is to say what needs saying while you can.

It’s a good story for highlighting how you can never be sure what’s going on in the other player’s life. However, this story could have benefited from more pages to adequately address the sensitive topics it plays upon.

Dead Batteries

Dave Herndon (writer), Travis Bramble (art)

A loner becomes obsessed with an arcade game until he unlocks a special level. Unfortunately, the special level is really a front for an energy siphon, draining the player of his life to power an alien craft.

This was the most Twilight Zone-ish story of the bunch. The premise is simple. The execution is effective. The art has a basic, digital style that could have used a little more spit and polish.

Solid State

Dean Manson Jr. (writer), Dan Finley (art, letters), Isaac Bergman (colors)

In the future, citizens play a virtual game called Solid State. When a nasty virus traps their minds in the game, their bodies die and they become permanent residents in the virtual world. Over time, the virtual world becomes its own reality where its citizens need protection from the monsters and viruses that want to defeat them for good.

Zach Carr is part of an elite squad sent into Solid State to protect its citizens. He develops a bond with his squadmates, and something more with one person in particular, Alex Acosta. When the horrors of the game have real-life consequences, both Zacha and Alex take vastly divergent paths for their new “life.”

Whew! That’s a lot of story to pack into 8 pages. The team pulls it off, but admittedly, they had to rush to get from A to B. On the downside, it’s too rushed for the story being told. On the plus side, there’s enough meat to this short to warrant a full comic or two. Something to consider, Source Point.

Starship: Precursor

Jarrett Walen (writer, artist)

A starship commander grapples with alien enemy fighters, an impossible decision over who to save first, and a crew hungry for leadership. In the end, there isn’t a mission that can’t be won by a good nap and hitting the reset button.

The art style is the most Comicbook-ish of the anthology. There are some panels that are rough in terms of anatomy, character placement, and perspective. There are other panels that look really great. There’s a barely-there story on top, but the execution is very amusing.

Under The Root

Michelle Joy Gallagher (writer), Emily Zalasko (art), Jim McClain (letters)

A young girl loves her daddy and her video games. When a sudden tragedy separates her from the one she loves, she begins to see her video games bridge the gap between life and death… or does it?

This is the tear-jerker of the anthology and the most effective and efficient use of space to tell a complete story. The art suits the tone of the story well, and the ending leaves you with just enough of a question mark without leaving the reader frustrated as to what really happened.

Star Pilots

J.R. Woodland (writer), Isaac Bergmann (Art)

Two starfighter pilots engage in high-speed combat. When they both perish in spectacular explosions, two kids pop another quarter to try again.

This is more of a vignette than an actual story. It captures the excitement of feeling like you’re part of the game, but there’s not much more depth playing one round of a shoot-em-up arcade game. The art is simple, old-school comic book fare that matches well to the content.

Threat Strike Battle Zone

Gene Hoyle (writer), Brad Gischia (art), Michael Waggonner (letters)

A kid can’t keep his eyes off his handheld game on the walk home from school. Despite a near miss or two crossing the street, he makes it home and decides playing with his brother is enough to bring him back to the real world.

Again, we see the recurring theme of the virtual world reflecting the life the real-life player they wish they had. The conclusion, however, is the most upbeat in terms of a message about finding something worth engaging in real life. The art is sketchbook style and relies on monochromatic watercolors for depth and shading. The art in this short has the least polished lines, but the use of color elevates the rough lines to round out the story nicely.

The Wait

Pat Kawula (writer), C.R. Warner (art)

Playing on the angst of every hardcore gamer, when is the next DLC/Sequel/Patch coming out? It’s a humorous take on the (imagined?) passage of time and life while waiting for the Devs to get their act together and announce something.

Good writing. Good art. Amusing premise any gamer above casual will appreciate.

Get Good

Sam Chestnutt (writer), Jonathan Fischer (art), Isaac Bergmann (colors), Jim McClain (lettters)

Get Good takes a look at that other, dreaded ‘G’ word: Grind. A player tries, tries, and tries again to get stronger and to learn more techniques to clear the level. Unfortunately, there’s always something bigger waiting just around the corner for the grind to begin again.

This story has the most polished art of the bunch using a comic strip style that captures the tone and fun of medieval games without going too grim or gory. The story is just barely a story but takes the time to fill the pages with humor and imagination to make up for the lack of an overall plot.

Save & Continue

Rob Humphrey (writer), K. Lynn Smith (art)

A man spirals into the depths of depression as the life he wishes he had in a video game slowly erodes his connection to loved ones and, eventually, his own life.

Admittedly, this was the toughest story to process. Watching somebody spiral into a deep depression to the point of suicide is a heavy topic in any medium. Is it done right? This one you’ll have to decide for yourself. The art adds to the crushing depression in an effective way, so at the very least, the story makes the point the creators wanted to make.

Final Thoughts

GET IN THE GAME, available from Source Point Press on April 28th, 2021, runs the gauntlet from shoot-em-up action to deep topics such as terminal illness and suicide. The art is a diverse as the stories, so there’s a fair chance there’s at least one story to appeal to everyone.

Score: 7/10