Review -- A Twelve Minute Revolution in Just Reading

This Review Originally Ran on Comics Bulletin

A Twelve Minute Revolution in Just Reading

(Darren Hupke, Vincent Tang)

4/5 stars

Here's the deal -- At 7:30 Lukas is shot. His experiment incomplete. By 7:42, there will be a revolution. A Twelve Minute Revolution in Just Reading was Darren Hupke and Vincent Tang's Kickstarter darling and now it's available on Comixology. It's a quick six-page story about a Nazi scientist who, as he comes to the end of some sort of project, is pierced by a bullet. He spends the rest of the comic not only trying to see his work to fruition, but also getting revenge on whoever shot him, all before he dies, all in twelve minutes.

Sounds simple enough, right? It's got that Kiefer Sutherland kind of thing going on, maybe. Perhaps you're rolling your eyes, thinking to yourself, "Haven't I seen this all before?"

But this little book has a kicker of an ending that gives you the big old middle finger, wags it in front of your eyes for a moment, and then laughs and laughs and laughs at the look on your face. Hupke pulls off this trick effortlessly and with an enormous amount of glee, signaling that not only does he know what he is doing, but he's having the time of his life doing it.

What really sets this little book apart from other mind-fuckery type comics, though, is the art of Vincent Tang. Blacks and whites and gray tones are his playground, while dramatic splashes of red and yellow blast off his pages. There is a freneticism about Tang's line work that adds a soundtrack to the beats of Hupke's writing. And it's a dubstep operatic jamboree hootenanny, if you ask me. Your feet will be bleeding by the end of the night. IN A GOOD WAY!

I had no idea what to expect when I started in on this digital loop. To be honest, I was drawn in by the title alone. What I got, though, was that feeling you get when you watch your tired old dog go after a squirrel, racing across the park. It's that exuberance and rejuvenation that infuses your own tired old mojo. It's an energy drink to slate your thirst for something new in comics.

Check out A Twelve Minute Revolution in Just Reading at ComiXology. When you do, though, make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes.