Numbercruncher #1 Advance Review

Numbercruncher was one of the comics that led the announcement of Titan Comics, and after reading the debut issue – set for release in July 2013 – I can see why. It’s a philosophically dense read that’s definitely not for everyone, but if you appreciate flippant takes on the afterlife and concepts of fate and destiny, this is right up your alley. Writer Simon Spurrier and artist PJ Holden cook up a severely interesting new series that bucks your expectations at nearly every turn.

The basic premise of Numbercruncher is this: the Universe is essentially one giant ledger with an accountant at the center that controls everything – as our lead character calls it, “a karmic calculator.” Our protagonist, Bastard Zane, serves as the right-hand man of sorts to this mathematic god that controls the fates of everyone in the universe, but when a new entrant into the in-between makes a deal that could give Zane his out after decades of service, things, of course, go awry. Its sounds pretty trippy in theory, and it in practice, it absolutely is.

But that is also this debut issue’s greatest strength; the big ideas are fast and furious, but Spurrier manages to present it in a fashion so the reader is never left behind. On top of that, he’s able to effectively build his strange cast of characters with relative ease. Zane’s motivations get lost in the shuffle in favor of the world-building aspects at times, but it’s a forgivable offense considering how off-the-rails Numbercruncher dares to be in its very first issue.

Holden’s artwork manages to keep up to speed with Spurrier’s zany ideas. In fact, it’s the big sweeping landscapes of the in-between that makes for this issue’s most impressive visuals, showcasing stacks and stacks of file cabinets, clocks, and things generally floating about in the ether. The environments and backgrounds in general are the highlight of the issue, while the characters tend to lack emotion at times.

There’s some great caricature work in terms of the Divine Calculator and Zane – an exaggeration of their body language that fits itself into some classic cartooning archetypes – but the characters that surround them are far less interesting. Still, this is an impressive first effort with plenty of room for growth as the next issue grows even crazier.

If you’re a fan of books like Punk Rock Jesus, The Filth, or The Unwritten, give Numbercruncher a shot..

Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. He will love Star Wars until he becomes one with the Force, and then he will continue loving it as a blue ghost.

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