Supermarket
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Kristian
IDW Publishing, 2006
By David Razi Dryburgh
When this story first came out as a four-piece monthly, I didn’t buy it. I knew it’d be a trade paperback one day. It is, after all, Brian Wood. He isn’t exactly as “indie” as some would claim; he did the art for GTA3 for God’s sake. And so, I waited intently. I waited like a kid who knew where his parents had hidden the Christmas presents but wasn’t going to go snooping, well aware that being surprised in earnest was worth it. I saw a one-page preview online and thought “God damn. That’s gonna be good.” I would not be disappointed.
Supermarket is about young Pella Suzuki and her fight to dodge mobsters from the Yakuza and Porno Swedes (there is a name that earns you street cred). She pissed them off somehow, but Beta, the Far East stud-gone-syndicate with a heart of gold, is there to try and help her out. The whole thing takes place in the future. The near future, actually. So near, in fact, that we may as well just call it the present; that seems to be what Wood is hinting at. Don’t get me wrong, with more than 92 pages to flesh things out, the world in Supermarket could really come to life, but as it is, it seems that only real difference between this future and the present is that all crime syndicates will wear matching outfits. I didn’t even know that it was set in the future until thirty pages in, when she started wearing VR goggles. Similarly, like most of Wood’s protagonists, Pella is a product of her environment, not really having earned her angst, which was a bit distracting. As a satire however, this book works nicely, as is Wood’s tendency. He’s all “Look in the mirror, WORLD!” He goes there.
The art in this book, and a gorgeous colour palette, come courtesy of Kristian. I’d never heard of this guy before, but it really is superb stuff. The whole thing feels like Jet Set Radio Future only a lot less cheerful. Most of all, I love his infrequent use of black. The words I’d most use to describe the art are “immersive” and “energetic.”
I’ve long been a follower of Wood’s work, and I don’t really know why. There’s always fantastic potential in his stories, but they almost inevitably seem to be ruined by the page count. Most of his stories are relatively short, and seem to just stop (with the exception of Demo, which seemed to flourish on the limited page count of each tale). Supermarket’s ending is premature and underdeveloped,which, given the strong potential for so much else to happen, was bothersome. That said, I still find myself awaiting his work, often intently. I strongly recommend this book for anyone looking for the fun of an action movie, or art with sleek style and grit. If Supermarket 2 came out, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. For the art, the action, and most importantly, to see if Wood takes advantage of the myriad possibilities of the world he created.
