Vic Boone: Volume 1: Murder Malfunction Review

Vic Boone: Volume 1: Murder Malfunction Review

Coming off a successful Kickstarter campaign, reading Vic Boone was like experiencing a live-action POV tour of Sin City, where the future exists to threaten society but is still not quite there. The voice that Shawn gives Vic throughout the three-act story is so intimate that you’re completely immersed from start to finish. Honestly, Vic Boone is the best that pulp noir and Dickens-Tracey-inspired mystery stories are made of.

One of the most beautiful transitions that took place in the story was during the plot twist after Vic exposed his client, NIna Hunt, who jumps Vic with a robot bait’n’switch. Nina’s color palette switches from yellow to green, accompanied by visual art and dialogue—ah! From someone who studies most of what he reads, Shawn Albridge shows you the masterful way to induce a coma of intrigue and mystery when it comes to crime writing.

Vic Boone’s inner monologue captured a lot of his thoughts, walking you through the character’s psychology, reminiscent of some of the earlier writing seen in detective comics. It was just so powerful that it even changed the way I usually approach writing reviews, which is a read, stop, and write process to keep up with details and so I can jot down ideas. I just couldn’t stop reading. Every plot point that Vic Boone hit while he was investigating Nina Hunt’s innocence was pure momentum.

The flow of this story was on point in every way. I could critique some of the dialogue placement, but that would be too over-the-top stupid because it took nothing away from my dead focus on finding out what happens next. Where is Vic Boone going? What’s he going to do? Why the shit is his go-to informant a fucking fly? That’s great.

So, in this story, Vic Boone is a private investigator who’s hired by Nina Hunt to prove that she is not a murderer. Nina believes her husband, Charles Hunt, is framing her in favor of his new love interest, Candi. Vic is an interesting character who gives zero sh*t about how others feel and decides to just walk right into Futratech, the company Charles Hunt owns.

If I had any complaints, it would be that the story could have been a lot longer; there was definitely room for it, but that might be from my personal interest because, between the fly guy, mutant juice, sentient robots, and Ape security guards, Vic Boone is one flying car away from Sin City, taking the Jetsons to a private showing of Bladerunner. And that’s where I’m going to leave it.

Aside from internally reading this in the voice of Eugine from The Walking Dead, because that’s how I think the captions sound in my head, if you’re a fan of movies like Swordfish, Blow, Miami Vice, Bladerunner, hell—even Cyberpunk—this is the page-turner for you! God bless you Shawn Albridge, and thank God for Kentuckians. What an incredible piece of literature. Also included in this book are several shorter stories collected over the years, it seems, that was just as entertaining as the main story, but I got to leave you, curious readers, with something to discover on your own, and you should.

Don’t forget to support your local comic store or visit your favorite artists and creators at cons. As always, stay geeky, share the network, and don’t forget to catch me on the latest episode of Comics’N’Poptarts.