Review by Pullbox Writing Intern Nate
Writer and artist: Kaare Andrews
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Oliver Lief is just your ordinary fifteen-year-old boy, that is until he is suddenly granted incredible powers. There is only one catch to his newfound abilities though, and that is he can only use them for ten minutes at a time. What will he do when faced with saving the world with only ten minutes to do so? But this isn’t the only problem that Oliver must face! Oh no no no! For he was already having a hard enough time being the new kid in town and navigating classes before the inter-dimensional monsters started to show up.
I will admit that when I first saw the cover to issue #1 of this series my immediately thought this kinda looks like Spider-Man. And while there are similarities, It did not take any sort of enjoyment away from me when reading the series so far.
E-Ratic, written and illustrated by Kaare Andrews with colors by Brian Reber, sees the character of Oliver Lief simply just trying to find where he fits in the vast work that is High-School. But trouble always seems to find him at the worst of times. From the constant bullying to giant robot squids, Oliver just can’t seem to catch a break. Andrews seems to be setting up a lot through this story and I can say with certainty that I am excited for what comes next. Although there are some cheese lines and fairly obvious cliches, this series has been fun from start to finish so far implementing some very unexpected moments I would rather not spoil.
Now I confess, that when I am typically looking at new series to read, my main selling point is the art. For instance, I can know little to nothing about a story and be completely sold on the art alone. For E-Ratic’s case, I can say that the art is what stuck out to me the most. From the gorgeous character designs to the bursting, electric feel of the action scene. Andrews artwork with the colors of Reber is an absolute match made in paradise. There were certain scenes where I just had to go back and read it again because of the way each sequence flows into the next.
E-Ratic is gearing up to be one action-packed series! The first two issues already being out, now is the perfect time to jump on this erratic ride. If you’re the type of reader that loves teenage coming-of-age stories, exceptional art, and electric super-heroics (for ten minutes that is), I would definitely recommend checking this series out.
Score: 10/13
