Indie Comic Review: Fisticuffs #1

Comics as a whole faces a pacing problem. Books are stuck in a serialized format of telling a larger story in sections. Overall, that approach is perfectly fine and has worked for decades. But it's important to remember that each individual issue should have its own pacing that's separate from the pacing of the larger story. This means there are a lot of first issues that struggle with pacing structure. There's a lot to like about the first issue of Fisticuffs, but it definitely suffers from this problem. 

The story is about a degenerate alcoholic named Nick who spends most of his time getting drunk at a bar. One night, he meets an attractive woman and brings her back to his place. However, during sex Nick somehow activates superpowers and ends up killing her. 

If that synopsis  seems short it's because that's pretty much all that happens in the issue. There are a lot of character moments such as an AA meeting and a visit to Nick’s friend Kyle (I say friend, but I'm not entirely sure their relationship is divulged). Overall, Nick is an interesting character. His degeneracy fills the comic with enough fun moments to connect with him. But these fun moments aren't necessarily pivotal to the plot. The plot really only begins in the last few pages, which isn't a great place for a story to get going. The production team is top-notch as far as lettering and artwork go. And the ending really does pack a punch. The comic as a whole just drags to get there.