Written by Daniel Hartwell, Anna Rubins, art by Karen Rubins
Itch
On the surface, this really couldn’t be further from the book of Karen Rubins I last looked at. That was Blood Magic, all about female magics in medieval society, wheras Urban Beasts is far more up to date, with a modern setting. But in spirit, it walks the same path, just different magics for a different time.
We open, in unassuming fashion, with young tech-geek Milo being dragged along by his friend for a night out at local club Flames. Milo doesn’t get out that much….
Absolutely. Milo really, really doesn’t have any idea what he is. Not yet. But by the end of this two issue series he’ll have his eyes opened and a new life waiting.
But before all that, a touch of very bad dancing seems to set something off with Milo, and he’s seeing things, what he assumes are huge hallucinations, of the going completely, totally insane variety. Because everyone, absolutely everyone, has a huge animal head, starting with all the Goths in the club …. and yes, of course he freaks out. You would too:
Brazilian shaman Caipora knows all about this whole animal thing though, she’s well versed in it, and always carries a set of shamanistic animal totems with her wherever she goes, all the better to slip by unnoticed past preening catwomen at fancy wine bars, pigeon commuters, shy hedgehog punks and the rest.
She’s on her way to try to stop a riot at an anti-vivisectionist protest that just happens to be outside Milo’s college. When they meet, they’re fascinated by each other… Milo amazed at the only human he’s seen since the club, Caipora convinced he’s a fellow shaman. Except the truth, when it eventually comes out in issue two, is far, far stranger.
Obviously the big hook, the grand idea here is the whole animal totem thing. Not the first time it’s ever been used of course, but Urban Beasts puts a fun, mod spin on it, makes it interesting all over again and just plain runs with it. The scenes of Caipora walking through people in issue 1 are a great, stylish way to get over exactly what it is she does without having to resort to lots of explanation – Hartwell and Rubins write it just right so Rubins can deliver so much in a few simple scenes:
And as well as the neatly done, fresh legs on an old idea thing, there’s a lovely bit of underplayed comedy all the way through Urban Beasts, whether it’s the Goth moths who hang around the Flames nightclub, complete with one particular Goth moth’s comment “sometimes I burn myself“, or the bordering on funny stereotyping when giving the characters their animal totems, the chav magpies being a perfect example. But right at the end it overplays this subtle, restrained comedy when we get to the big reveal, with the discovery of Milo’s true shamanistic role…. in the context of the story it makes absolute sense, but visually, it’s just a little….. well, in truth in just comes off as silly. But by then, it’s a minor blip rather than a terrible moment. It spoils but doesn’t ruin the idea of the ending.
Urban Beasts is nicely written, and a good, intriguing story. Bar that small problem with the ending, it’s a great little comic, with Karen Rubins’ manga style artwork doing a lot to make it very enjoyable indeed.
You can buy Urban Beasts at the Itch Publishing site.
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