Chachu #1 // Review
It’s the beginning of September. 1979. Leila is in town. She’s going to see her uncle. This would be a perfectly normal thing if it wasn’t for the case. that she hasn’t ever really...spoken to her uncle. And then there’s the fact that she happened to accidentally collide into the car of her uncle’s wife. And then there’s the fact that her uncle’s wife is big in Hollywood. And then there are the guys with the guns. Leila is getting into some pretty serious trouble in Chachu #1. Writer Iman Vellani and artist Marianna Ignazzi open an engrossing crime thriller with colorist Jordie Bellaire.
Leila is going to college. Only thing is...she can’t move-in until the day AFTER she’s run-into her uncle Chachu. So naturally she’s going to stay the night in his basement. That’s when the guys with the guns show-up. Leila is able to keep it together while she and her uncle are harassed. If they’re going to keep it together, they’re going to have to go and meet his wife...who happens to have gone off to Las Vegas. Leila and Chachu might not know each other yet, but they’ve got plenty of time on the road to learn...
Vellani sets-up a charming bit of intrigue in an appealing opening issue. Vellani has a brilliant sense of rhythm and clarity in dialogue. Her dialogue is a character in and of itself. Perspicacity and wit are brought to the page in bits of dialogue that roll across the page with a clever rhythm. Leila is a fun character to hang out with on the page for 30 minutes or so in a sitting. She’s got a brilliant grasp of nuance and detail. Vellani clearly has a really vivid grasp of good storytelling.
Ignazzi gives Leila and her world a stylish depth. The atmosphere feels very studied. There’s a very distinct look and feel to Southern California in the late 1970s as brought to the page by Ignazzi. Her rendering of Leila’s eotions feels a bit exaggerated in places, but it renders a profoundly vulnerable and sympathetic look to a young woman who is trying to find herself. Bellaire’s colors carry a lot of atmosphere in and of themselves. Oranges and reds dominate the first issue with a rich warmth. Leila’s rose-colored sunglasses and matching sports car lend a lot of personality to the page.
Vellani firmly asserts an intriguing and stylish story in the first issue of the new series. Leila seems like an appealing enough character to carry an ongoing series if Vellani can maintain the same striking charm that she’d managed in her protagonist for the first issue of the series. Though it is a very earthbound drama that wouldn’t necessarily need to be on the comic book page, there’s a strong enough visual element to the story to make it feel right at home between a couple of covers on the new issues rack. It’s a welcome addition.
