MIXOLOGY NOIR – BOOK ONE: VESPER, from Wolven Press on Kickstarter, spins a yarn about a cheating wife with a nasty disposition who stops into a Russian bar for a drink, leading to a painful lesson about appreciating your loved ones.
The Details
- Written by: Evan Carothers
- Art by: Martin Gimenez
- Colors by: Ichsan Ansori
- Letters by: Evan Carothers
- Cover art by: D.N.S. (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover price: $6.00
- Release date: March 2023 (estimated)
Is It Good?
MIXOLOGY NOIR – BOOK ONE: VESPER is one of two comics included in Wolven Press’s Kickstarter double-feature, and it’s a doozy. Set in a seedy Russian bar, Evan Carothers’s story centers on a cheating wife with a nasty personality who decides to stop on her way to her next tryst for a little liquid refreshment. She soon finds the Russian staff is in no mood for the woman’s lack of social graces and teaches her a lesson about what’s most important in life.
Vesper refers to the drink first created in the James Bond novella Casino Royale. The story of the drink’s creation and its connection to the Russian family serves as a metaphor for wanting something that isn’t important. The Vesper is just one example of Carothers’s deft use of metaphor in this issue. Every object and every person represents a second layer of meaning within the world around the woman. The beauty of Carothers’s script is how he gets the woman to eventually recognize those layers, forcing her to learn something about herself.
In a clever twist, Carothers resolves a story full of metaphors with a literal twist on a figurative statement – “I’d give my ring finger to see them again.” The twist is satisfying in its irony, and you come away hoping the woman has truly learned her lesson, which is the way a reader should feel at the end of a morality tale.
Gimenez’s art is solid but not perfect. The use of shadows in the panel compositions is excellent, as the woman encounters a young boy who you never fully see but instantly sympathize with through only the use of his outline and the occasional body part creeping into the light. Gimenez’s creative use of light and shadow also serves as a metaphor for the woman’s dark choices brought into the light.
That said, some of the figure work is very loose, rough, and sketchy. In a few panels, it was difficult to recognize one or two characters, creating some confusion in the reading experience.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a woman talking on her phone to one of her friends as she rides a train. She brazenly mocks her husband over his ignorance of her affairs, and she decides to leave the train for a brief stop at any nearby bar for some Vodka.
The woman finds an out-of-the-way Russian bar serving the greatest Vodka she’s ever tasted. The bartender and staff, however, are not keen on the woman’s rude remarks and unpleasant attitude. Soon, the drink takes hold, and the staff begins asking questions to the woman about her life, her husband, and their wealth.
Later, the woman wakes up in a dimly lit basement, chained to a post. She soon realizes she’s not alone, and her jailors intend to find out how much the woman is worth to her family. We conclude the issue with garden shears, a barrel, and a story about a submarine officer.
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Final Thoughts
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MIXOLOGY NOIR – BOOK ONE: VESPER is a clever morality tale about a nasty woman who learns to appreciate what’s important in life. The story is rich in metaphor to give the story layers of depth, and the art team makes excellent use of light and shadow as symbols for the woman’s emotional journey.
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