ICYMI: Science Fiction and ‘Zine Comics Smash Together in Xino #1

Coming hot off the presses from Portland’s premier indie comic publisher Oni Press, Xino #1 is a surprising amount of fun. Containing four different tales of varying tones and themes, this anthology does have an overarching aesthetic then with its visuals. Reminiscent of ‘zine style anthologies, this book will probably not satisfy readers of more mainstream and structurally sound comics, but there is a lot to love in this anthology.

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The issue kicks off with a story called Hue by writer Melissa Flores and artist Daniel Irizarri, in which a young blind man named Matteo undergoes a special surgery that grants him sight permanently. While seeing the world in all of its beauty starts off great, it quickly turns sour as Matteo begins to see things not of our world. As they torment his daily life, he finds himself at a startling crossroads when the doctors refuse to swap his vision back to how it was before.

From the jump, the writing is serviceable. There’s a lot of great technique on display in terms of short comics’ writing and pacing, but it’s clear that this was a story written for the art. So much of what makes this compelling is the visual storytelling, but that’s not to say that Flores’ writing is poor. It certainly isn’t. When writing manages to remain invisible and bolster the visual storytelling aspect of comics, you often wind up with a tale ten times better than someone who pens a novel that then has to have art slapped over top.

The art is impressive. The coloring, mixed with excellent panel pacing and penciling that is continuously expressive makes for a visual experience that feels alive. There are some visual storytelling choices here that alone deserve the price of admission, and they may be only take up one panel. Seriously, the art here is fantastic.

The story is a bit dark and gore rode, but it never feels as though it is going over the top in a way that’s ever disrespectful of Matteo’s blindness. Its thematic messaging is punchy and straight to the point, wrapping this tale up with a nice little bow that makes the entire thing feel worthwhile, compelling, and complete. The issue definitely opens up with a bang.

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The second tale is a bit of a doozy. Titled Rabbit Trap, it’s written by Jordan Thomas with art by Shaky Kane. It follows a sad, paranoid man caught up in the Red Scare fanaticism of 1950s America. However, his focus on being weary of Soviet invasion leads him to miss out on those truly seeking to replace not just Americans, but all of humanity.

This story does lack a sense of originality or punch, and Thomas’ writing is a bit static. The story is plotted enough however to take readers on a decent enough ride, but said ride is dependent on a shock twist that will only work for the reader if they are picking up on the socio-political satire. What works most here is the combination of Thomas’ voice as a writer with Kane’s comedic timing as a cartoonist. There are plenty of humorous gags in this tale to be entertaining even if you find it’s message sorry if well-said, an excuse for blaze-faire storytelling.

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She Took The Air is a hardcore military sci-fi vignette from writer/artist Phil Hester, who received help on inks and colors from Eric Gapstur & Francesco Segala. The story is a very interesting romp through the idea of child programming, showcased with a partially symbolic use of children being bred for war. The story isn’t necessarily just about child soldiers, instead drawing parallels to that extreme level of youth programming to the kind we see in everyday life.

If his work on Gotham City: Year One wasn’t impressive enough, Hester hasn’t missed a beat. His visual storytelling remains as perfect as it ever has. With this story he also takes on writer duties, and while he may use too many words, all together the story reads quite well with a powerful ending that backs up the message of his tale. While it breaks the tonal consistency of Xino thus far, it makes great use of its genre in order to tell a story that’s both poignant and violent.

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The final tale in this first issue is titled Future Gaming and winds up being the most ‘Old Man Yells at Cloud’ story out of the bunch. Cautionary science fiction tales often tip toe the line between being hopeful yet cautious about the implementation of technology for humanity’s future, or just being straight-up terrified about change. While this tale could be seen as harmonizing most with the latter part of that statement, it was also a lot of fun.

Gavin is a young man excited to try out a new and hyper-engaging form of escapism entertainment, which involves being injected with a special neurological trick that, simply, forces you to undergo hyper-interactive forms of lucid dreams at nighttime. However, like all things too good to be true, it holds a sinister secret that begins to leak out into his waking life.

This tale features very poppy and vibrant colors, painted over a relatively crude and cartoonish penciling style from Nick Cagnetti that brings the insanity of this plot to life in such an elective way. The story takes some pretty unexpected turns, with a relatively gory ending that does come as a surprise. This was one of the more well-fleshed stories in the collection, Gavin having a little more stature as a character than the other protagonists in this book, say for the main character in Rabbit Trap.

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Jim Campbell lettered each story in this book and really showed off his skills as a letterer. Each book has a consistent yet distinct style of lettering that helped to give them each their own wider identity within this zany package. While some of the differences may seem insignificant, a lot of Campbell’s work here goes towards making each story all the more immersive.