Diskordia, Vol. 1: Feels Like Falling
Created by Rivenis (Andrew Blackman)
Diskordia Comics
Release Date: March 2015
Cover Price: $12.99

Alrighty folks, you know the drill. I’m all about independent comics and books. They’ve got more soul and love in them because they are normally a labor of love. That’s not to say I don’t totally dig releases from the mainstream, because I really do. But in the end, I always look to creator-produced works for that extra oomph. Diskordia, Vol. 1: Feels Like Falling is all that and more. And unlike some of my other reviews, I’m just going give you my impression of this crazy good graphic novel.

Take equal parts of surrealism, dark fantasy, sex, and crazy shenanigans and you will only grasp the edge of what this series brings to the world of comics. Now, I’m not saying it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. I am merely saying it’s not like some of the more methodical, stale comics you might be subjected to on a regular basis. I can definitely see that certain comic writers have made some major impressions on Andrew Blackman (aka Rivenis), but he’s also taken that influence and made it his own.

With twisted and flawed characters like Jackal Black, Squid Girl (I’m not kidding), and Iverna Deskerna to work with, we watch Rivenis create complicated stories with out-of-this-world plots, but still loaded with some hilarious (albeit dark) moments. There are some awkward moments that I didn’t understand, as well as few inconsistencies. But none of that interferes with the plot of this series, thankfully. The art is clean and crisp, with several different styles which is unusual coming from a single artist/writer/creator. There are a plethora of wide angle, bird’s eye styled panels (some stretching over two pages) that really showcase his artistic side. If I had to say one truly negative thing about this comic, it would be in reference to the grammar. The punctuation within the dialogue, to be precise. There is a severe lack of commas that occasionally disrupted my reading but it wasn’t so distracting that I was put off by it.

Fun fact: Whereas Alice accessed Wonderland via rabbit hole, Jackal gained entry to his dreamworld through a toilet bowl. This is the one thing that stuck with me throughout the story. Mainly because it really did set off a cataclysmic shit storm, so to speak. The plots wind and weave their way through one another to create a great tale, one that I hope you’ll seek out and enjoy as I did. All things being equal, it’s a great creator-owned book that I’d like to one day see in physical form. And that, my friends, is all I’ve got for the moment. But, just in case you missed it above, the whole nine-issue compilation is less than the cost of a plate of fajitas! Okay, now I’m done.