Skip to Content

Fatherhood #1 is a strange mix of sweet and disturbing

Fatherhood #1 is a strange mix of sweet and disturbing

Fatherhood #1
Written by Ryan K. Lindsay
Illustrated by Daniel Schneider
Colored by Paulina Ganucheau
Lettered by Brandon DeStefano
Designed by Christopher Kosek
Published by Challenger Comics

img.php


Fatherhood is the story of a broken family, one little girl and a father who would do pretty much anything to make her happy. Divorced, drowning in debt and alone, the man seeks out a way to reconnect with his daughter. The method he chooses to make that connection is to get her a much coveted doll. When he is unable to procure one for her, he suffers a full on psychosomatic breakdown, complete with costume change and gratuitous violence.

Unlike most comic books, this story is told by a narrator in omniscient third person instead of relying on the use of pure first person dialogue. In fact the vast majority of dialogue that does occur happens after the shift from reality to vigilant toy retriever. Even then, most exchanges are short and succinct, often times leaving open ended scenarios for the reader to decide what the end results may have been.

The juxtaposition of the Technicolor real world and the monochrome noir of the father’s hero/villain alter ego is purposeful and effective. Throughout the monochrome portion, the items that tie the father to his daughter remain in color while everything else is transformed into a monochrome landscape, complete with dark alleys, fedoras and trench coats. The use of selective color pops accent the things that keep him just barely tethered to reality.

The character designs are thoughtful. The child is obviously a result of the parents. Her features a realistic mix of both. The inside of the Toys R Us knockoff is just as headache inducing, messy, over bright and overwhelming as it’s real life counterpart.

The father figure acts as neither a protagonist nor an antagonist. He is rather a rhetorical question. How far you would go to guarantee your child’s happiness and is it too far? It is a testament to the visceral and completely unique reality that manifests only in direct correlation to the perceived well being of one’s own child.

This 22 page one-shot it worth the read, if not for the subject material which is actually interesting in an anthropological way, for the art which is clean, minimalist and clear in meaning. Oddly reminiscent of the 1990’s Tickle Me Elmo debacle, Fatherhood is equal parts charming and disturbing. If only everyone was lucky enough to have a dad who would kick this much ass to make all their dreams come true, one Perky Pat doll at a time.

[wpchatai]