By Cat Wyatt

If you've taken a look at the description for Theatrics, you’ve probably noticed that it’s pretty vague and short. Don’t let that put you off from the series. Despite the description, Theatrics is a deep and intriguing study of human nature; the good, the evil, the flexibility and ability to recuperate and recover, and everything in between.

Set in the 1920s, it’s about an actor named Rudy Burns, and his desperation to become famous. At the start, he’s got a rich girlfriend, a decent job (which he was cast for because he’s the perfect pretty boy type) on Broadway, and a great friend who also is his manager. What more could a guy like him ask for? Well, as it turns out, quite a bit. Rudy isn’t satisfied with what he’s got, he wants more, much more. Unfortunately, this results in him indulging in excessive behavior, which of course only creates more troubles.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all be raised to give up our money/possessions should we be set upon by a group of muggers. Better to be broke than dead, right? Well Rudy may have been taught that lesson, but he learned it the hard way, to say the least. Rudy fights back, armed only with his fists, against a group of men. While he actually gets some great shots in (impressive, really) it’s no surprise, based on the numbers alone, that he ends up going down.

Bad enough to lose a fight like that; if they had just beat him up a little bit and taken his money, it would have been bad, to be sure. He may not have been able to work for a couple of days, and may not have been able to pay his bills for a little while longer. But he’d be okay. Rudy is not okay. The muggers were pretty ticked about those good hits he got on them, and had decided to teach him a lesson.

Unfortunately that lesson cost Rudy everything he had and more importantly for him, everything he thought he wanted in life. It’s a high toll, to be sure, and one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. It’d be easier to feel sorry for him, had he not spent so much time wallowing in self-pity. He also turns down an opportunity with little thought, which was hard to see. If he had taken that job (even if it was offered out of pity) his job, while slightly derailed, may have still been on a similar path to what he wanted. Even if it didn’t rake in the big money (which Rudy is a little too focused on, if I may say so).

For a while things seem to keep getting worse for our poor main character, and it starts hitting the point where we can’t pretend he deserved any of it. First his injuries, then his job (we could also include his career path in this statement), followed by the respect of the community, his apartment, and finally, his girlfriend. For many any one of these would be too much, but having them all together is inconceivable (I know, it does not mean what I think it means).

Despite everything, Rudy has a good friend and manager that sticks with him. He finds him a new career path in acting, sure it may be something that most of us wouldn’t actually consider acting, and it doesn’t make a ton of money, but it’s something, to be sure. It does require Rudy to be acting almost all of the time, as he can’t afford to be seen out of character. That must wear on a person to say the least.

The more I saw of the scheme the friend set up, the more concerned I became that said friend was actually using Rudy. I still don’t have any proof of it, but his concerns appear more and more skewed as time goes on. He had previously indulged in Rudy’s self-destructive behavior, and at first I thought it was because he was a good friend that wanted his friend to have fun (and had trouble standing up to him and saying no) but now I think it was because he was afraid to tell his cash cow no. I’ll admit I could be being harsh here, but I won’t really know until the next volume, which I fully intend on reading.

The writing is what really stood out for this volume, the twists and turns may seem obvious at first, but there’s actually a lot of subtlety hidden within the lines. For example; Rudy is put through hell, and while we can argue all we want about how he may or may not have asked for it, it really isn’t the point. Despite that he finds a way to bounce back and find a way. He’s found a new career, he’s supporting himself (and let’s be honest here, his friend as well), and he never drops character. The thing is, I think he’s still in anguish, possibly more than he was before. Taking on this brutal persona is clearly wearing on him. Meanwhile the friend acts all sweet and kindly through the whole volume, but the more we see of him the more we realize he may just be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Then there are the people that immediately turned their backs on Rudy, simply because he was no longer the pretty boy. It speaks volumes about humanity at large.

The artwork was decent, and while I didn’t find myself loving it, I will admit it really fit the tone of this story pretty well. The color palette was perfect; it was just the expressions and particular styles I didn’t always enjoy.

All in all that was a pretty solid first volume. I’ll be curious to see where they go with it from here, and how long this series ends up being (I could see it going either way).

Score: 4/5

Theatrics vol. 1
Writer: Neil Gibson
Artist: Leonardo Gonzalez
Colors: Jan Wijngaard
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Graphic Design: Taylor Esposito & Nicholas MO
Publisher: T Pub