Comic Book Wednesday, Review of Snapshot #1

Cover to #1, art by Jock.

If you found a brand-new, up-to-date phone with pictures of a murdered man on it, what would you do? British comic collaborators Andy Diggle and Jock ask and answer exactly that in their new, compelling series, Snapshot,  out from Image Comics this week.  The pair, hailing from 2000AD, have brought together a brilliant, totally gripping script and story together with beautiful eye-catching black and white art in this new thriller-drama which is already turning heads in the comics world. 

The first issue opens with Jake, a young man who works in the hilariously-named comic Near-Mint Rhino, finding an abandoned phone on his way to work. When he arrives, comics-shop regular Steve is already there, hiding out from his wife and her Berkeley hipster friends, who are arranging to go out on a march, against… ‘bad stuff’ as the blasé Steve puts it. Jake tells Steve about the phone, and they gleefully go about discovering the phone’s secrets. After Steve is busted by his wife, Jake looks through the images gallery on the phone, he is horrified to discover a series of photos portraying a dead body. Jake then goes onto report the phone and its contents to the disbelieving police, and in an almost Hitchcockian turn of events, he finds 
himself wrapped up in a deadly game of clod-blooded murder. 

Jock’s ( Judge Dredd- Tartan Terrors, Green Arrow: Year One) black and white artwork is stunning in Snapshot, and lends to the modern-day noir feel of the comic, as well as increasing the already-high tension in the climactic parts. Jock also captures the facial expressions of Jake, Steve and the rest of the cast brilliantly, and he also takes the time to add a humorous placard in Steve’s wife’s party- march for Gay Whales Against Racism, anyone? 

Andy Diggles’ writing on the first issue is extremely gripping, and he builds up a very convincing world very quickly. The timing is absolutely spot-on, and he hitches the tension up very quickly, creating a believable, heavily suspenseful story. With a high-interest, trigger-happy first issue, Snapshot is a thriller series to watch out for.