Indie Comics Review: Ashes Over Neon #1

Pacing is perhaps the most important factor in a comic book. It can also be a bit tricky to master. So much of modern storytelling revolves around film, which has plenty of screen time to develop its characters and universe. A comic book, especially a first issue, doesn't have this luxury. There's only a certain amount of pages and a certain amount of panels to convey information to a reader. So managing those resources properly is essential to telling an engaging story. Although Ashes Over Neon has nuggets of an interesting story behind it, it's first issue could have used some tweaking to highlight them more. 

The story is about Sera, a woman working her way up the corporate bureaucracy of her company. She's stressed, tired, and in need of a break. However, her ambition won't let her slow down. What drives her is a past focused on music, which she pulls upon for inspiration. Unfortunately, she has been out of the game too long and needs to work hard if she is going to re-immerse herself back into the city's underground music scene. 

As a character, Sera is interesting. Her ambition to succeed in an unforgiving corporate environment resonates, especially as she wants to tap into the musical passion of her youth. However, the first issue spends way too much time introducing us to Sera and her life that it meanders. A lot could have been cut from this first issue to move the plot points along as it ends right as it gets going. From a technical standpoint, the art did its job, but the lettering needed a lot of work. All in all, the set up showed a lot of potential for being an interesting story. Hopefully, subsequent issues are able to tighten up its production for a smoother read.