The Family by Pat Higgins – A review
Recently, the Overlords Kentucky and John asked yours truly to take a peek at a few of the comics that have been backlogged, and give an opinion/review on what we read.
So my first submission is a story that was written and illustrated by Pat Higgins.
Sam (short for Samantha I’m guessing) has just lost her grandma, so Dave (her husband) decides the best thing to do to help cheer her up, is get her a home security system that basically does everything for you. I have seen these installed by all my tech savvy friends, and think they are neat, but I am not that smart, nor have the inclination to get one, so Dave is one step ahead of me.
Sam, after Dave changes the temperature, surprises Dave by really falling for it, and appreciates his thoughtfulness. That’s when the shenanigans start. While sleeping, noises occur, objects move, and of course poor Dave has to investigate them all. This leads up to an ending I totally didn’t expect, and made me curious as to what happens in the second issue.
I know I was vague on the story, I always am, because I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything, and ruin a perfectly good book for you kids to read. I will say, it started out slow, I immediately was annoyed by Dave, and being twice divorced, some of the stuff he does will not be let off that easy, so I’m assuming they are newlyweds, where everything is cute and awesome. By the end of the story though, I warmed up to him somewhat, and actually appreciated the dynamic between the two main characters.
I actually read it two times, and the second time around, I got the full story, and the picture it was painting, and I liked it. Not the fastest pace, and also not a subject you think you’d want to read about, and admittedly, has been done a few times before. However Pat came up with a pretty good twist at the end, that really paid off for me.
What really stuck out to me is the artwork. I really liked the style. It reminded me of a comic I saw when I was a kid, but unfortunately the name escapes me. I will say I distinctly remember that comic sucking, so already Pat Higgins has one up on them.
It’s simple, not realistic looking, but I really dug it. It did take me a minute to realize that the panels that were wonky looking, were actually the view from Charlie, the name of the Security system. I thought that was quite clever, and really made sense. Overall, art wise, I will say that it may not be for everyone, but I liked it.
I liked it, was worth a read or two, and I had no seething bitterness for wasting my time reading something like I’m sure some of you do reading my articles, so I’d recommend it. It’s not perfect, but it pays off.
Find more about Pat Higgins on his website - https://pat-higgins.com
Buy "The Family" - https://pat-higgins.com/product/the-family-8-75x8-75-60-page-graphic-novel/
Twitter - http://twitter.com/higginsmedia
Instagram - http://instagram.com/phiggins80
Facebook - http://facebook.com/pathigginsillustration