Urban Animal #1 | Comics Review

Written and drawn by Cebu-based creator John Amor, Urban Animal #1 is an indie comic book (a 4-part story actually) about Joe – a naughty teenager who gets cursed and turns into a monster because of his, well, naughtiness.

For a description, John describes the book as a mash-up between The Catcher In The Rye and The Incredible Hulk with a dash of Archie. Actually, John says this comic book is semi-autobiographical and so it can be fun trying to guess which parts of the story were taken from John’s personal experiences. The dialogues are clever and the humor delivers. It perfectly displays how comfortable John is with the English language. Storywise, you’d be so amused with the narrative you’d be on the last page before you even notice it. And you’d surely want to read more.

On the art side, everything looks really good. John has a very dynamic style and we see some excellent panel work going on here. I also love how he effectively inserts a few Manga elements when the scene calls for it. And the details are awesome! You’ll see no lazy lines. Dare I say this is one of the best-drawn indies we have around. That’s actually a huge compliment, especially since the book has been drawn more than ten years ago. John, as an artist, has evolved now and yet no one can deny Urban Animal #1 is an absolute eye-pleaser.

If there’s one thing I have to grumble about, it’s the fact that his signature is on almost every page. I don’t know why but I found it distracting each time I saw it haha!

Anyway, kudos to John Amor for a fun comic book. I have yet to read issue 2 and I’ve heard he’s already finalizing #3. I’m excited!

And yeah. I gotta give high fives to that guy though who yelled “Dagan ba!!!” when monster Joe first appeared. If you speak Cebuano too, then there goes a shoutout for you.