Issue: Fly #1
Writer: Raven Gregory
Artist: Eric J
Colors: Michael Garcia & Nei Ruffino
Letters: Crank!
Cover A: Eric Basaldua & Nei Ruffino
Cover B: Artgerm
Cover C: Eric J & Nei Ruffino
Original Release: June 8, 2011
Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
Thanks to our friends over at Zenescope Entertainment, you can read part of Raven Gregory’s newest creator-owned comic book series, Fly, right here! Just scroll down to the bottom of this post and you can check out the first four pages of the series’ inaugural issue — for free!
This new series from Zenescope Entertainment answers the question: what would happen if a drug existed that could give you the powers of flight, super strength, and invulnerable skin? Six years ago, three teenagers had the opportunity to find out when they discovered a designer drug that could do just that. Only one of the three, Eddie, managed to break free of the drug’s seductive effects in favor of living a “normal” life, but even today — years later — his and his friends’ actions are coming back to haunt him.
For six years Eddie has managed to hide from his ex-girlfriend, Danielle. She’s one of the two teens who got hooked on the drug that they dubbed “Fly”, and now that she’s back she isn’t messing around. It’s the classic “pissed-off-ex-girlfriend” storyline, but unfortunately for Eddie his ex isn’t just angry — she’s super strong, virtually invincible, and (somewhat obviously) she can fly. And if Danielle wasn’t angry enough with Eddie for walking out on her all those years ago, she certainly will be when she finds out that he moved on and got married to someone else!
Based on Gregory and his family’s own experiences battling with meth addiction, Fly blends fantasy and reality into a world where the super powers bestowed on people by the drug Fly are symptoms of a much bigger problem for the series’ characters. When asked about his motivation for creating the series, Gregory commented that “It was just one of those things where if I didn’t write about it, it would have festered forever.”
“There are all different types of drugs out there. There are people who get addicted to things and they never get better, or they die. I could take these characters and put them in these positions and say, ‘OK, this is what happens. This is what would eventually happen,’ even though I don’t know what the end of my story is,” Gregory commented.
Although Fly #1 spends a great deal of time on flashbacks that set the stage for present-day events, it’s obvious by the end of the issue that the story has a great deal of potential. Blending real-life problems with elements of science fiction and fantasy allows an even wider audience to identify with the story being told, and the fact that Gregory is writing from personal experience will only make the series that much more poignant.
Judging by the cover images already released for the second and third issues of Fly (the fourth is still in the production phase), Gregory’s series will continue to be a graphic, bloody one that will keep readers coming back for more.
Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
Fly #1: Page 3
Fly #1: Page 4
Fly #1: Page 5
Fly #1: Page 6
