First Look at the New Miami Vice Digital Comic Book from Lion Forge Comics

I just got finished reading the first edition of the new Miami Vice digital comic book. For the record, I was, and still am, a huge fan of the tv series as well as an avid comic book collector. That said, I was extremely hopeful for this title to deliver new and authentic Tubbs and Crockett adventures. I even put on some Jan Hammer and Tim Truman tracks to listen to as I read it. In reality, the first issue was a bit of a disappointment. Here's why...

To begin with, the artwork did a nice job of capturing the pastel color palette, architecture, and designer clothing by finding a good balance between looking contemporary while still staying true to show and the era that spawned them. However, the story boards could have moved a little better with additional effort and additional artwork. More panels showing progression and a little more artwork detail (at least in some cases) would have breathed more life into the images.

I believe that over at Marvel they're no longer showing their characters smoking. I'm not sure if that's the same case with Lion Forge, but a show like Miami Vice taking place in a 1980s night club with Sonny Crockett should be gritty and filled with smoke. One of the main scenes in the first story of the digital comics takes place in just such a location, yet the images seem a little too sterile for a 1980s Miami night club where everyone would be smoking and drinking. Hell -- our main character is a big smoker at this point in the TV series (the digital comic takes place between seasons 1 and 2).

The writing is pretty good, but there is room for improvement. Sonny would be more believable if they threw in a few "Pals" here and there and tweaked the dialogue and images a little. As with the story boards, the writing seems to suffer a little from not giving the reader enough. Savoring the scenes and dialogue by adding more panels and words would help the book have much more of the feel of the show's writing style.

Unlike the TV series, comic books are strictly a visual medium. Miami Vice the TV series was a revolutionary audio/visual medium and exploited the music by tying it directly into the images and story. A comic book loses the audio aspect so Lion Forge really needs to do the same thing by giving much more detailed gritty images and more frames to show progression and really work the readers visual sense and imagination. The dialogue needs to be tweaked a little and should tie in more to the unique personality traits we've come to know and love about these characters.

My biggest gripe would have to be the short length of the first edition, but that's par for the course in today's society where manufacturers are constantly giving consumers less and less.

Overall, not a bad first issue, but there is room for improvement. Lion Forge should slow the pacing down by giving us more panels and more back and forth reactions and dialogue between the characters. They need to tell more story either with their words, their images, or both.