The Schlub #1 – Image Comics

Creative Team: Ryan Stegman, Kenny Porter, Tyrell Cannon, Mike Spicer and John J. Hill

Welcome to another New Comic Book Day review from the N.I. Bullpen!

This is the story of Rodger, a divorced dentist down on his luck. Until something extraordinary happens one day and everything changes. If you are looking for a superhero story about a not so super dentist, then this is right up your alley.

It’s a wonderful blend of action and comedy. When many of the comics coming lately being on the more serious side of things, The Schlub #1 from Image Comics is a very welcome breath of fresh air on comic shelves this week. 
Let’s take a look at this new action/ comedy series, The Schlub, from Image!

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**

Meet Roger Dalton

Roger Dalton is not a bad guy. He is, by definition, a schlub. He just makes poor decisions…frequently. As such, he’s not a very happy or lucky guy. 

We meet Roger while he is with a patient in his dentist’s office. At the same time, he is on the phone with his ex-wife Sara, attempting to convince her to go to dinner with him. She declines his invitation.

At the same time, there is a billboard going up across the street, plastered with his father and brother’s faces. They are about to open up their 13th location of their own dental practice, and they are opening up right next door to Roger. 

On top of all of this, Roger is behind on his office’s lease payments. Life just isn’t going his way, and again, it’s not because Roger is a bad person or anything. He just can’t make a good decision if his life depended on it. 

All of that is about to change. Except for the poor decisions, those will be a recurring theme here.

Sirens of the City #2 Review HERE

Enter Cirrus

Just as Roger thinks his life can’t get any more miserable, his office is suddenly destroyed! The superhero known as Cirrus is in the middle of fighting one of his greatest enemies, Wyrm, Master of the Dark. Unfortunately for Roger, his office just so happens to be in their path.

As you can expect, Roger has simply had enough at this point. During the battle above his office, Roger is in the process of making a hasty retreat to escape the destruction around him. As he is lamenting on being a “Crap Magnet,” Cirrus and Wyrm happen to drop some kind of ancient relic that they have been fighting over this whole time.

Who happens to pick it up first? Yeah, you guessed it, it was Roger.

Yet Another Poor Decision

Roger picks up this relic and examines it for a moment. Cirrus and Wyrm both look on in horror as Roger makes yet another bad choice for himself and others.

On the relic, Roger sees a button. Now, a normal person would see a mysterious object with a glowing button, and most likely decide to steer clear or consult someone. Not Roger. Roger decides to press the strange glowing button without a second thought.

This is where everything changes.

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The Swap

To Roger’s pleasant surprise, and Cirrus’ horror, Roger pressing that button has caused the pair to swap bodies! 

Roger is completely ignoring Cirrus at this point. Cirrus is trying to warn Roger that he doesn’t know how to use Cirrus’ powers and he is putting the universe in danger. Roger isn’t even paying attention. He is reveling in the power he feels coursing through his new super human body. 
He tries to fight Wyrm and is best pretty quickly. He has no control over the strength or powers he now processes. As Cirrus bluntly points out;

“You’re a walking nuclear bomb. If you want to survive this and not kill a million people, you have to listen to me.”

The Fight Continues

Still, Roger is not listening. He goes to continue the fight, and grabs something familiar to use against Wyrm, his dental drill! 

This seems to horrify Wyrm (aren’t we all a little scared of the dentist?) and leads him to lash out. He abruptly grabs Roger and throws him through the wall of the building and into the street below.

No matter the advice that Cirrus tries to shout, Roger just can’t do it. He can’t control the powers and he can’t understand half of what Cirrus is saying. Just as Wyrm is about to finish off our “hero” he makes a mistake. He calls Roger a failure.

This it seems is Roger’s equivalent to “You won’t like me when I’m angry” and his power surges and explodes outwards. This puts Wyrm on the defensive and causes him to finally flee the battle.

A Deal Is Made

After the fight, Roger and Cirrus fly off to a rooftop. Cirrus finally seems to get through to Roger here. He explains just how serious this is, and once it finally sinks in that Roger will be expected to take on Cirrus’ duties, he is hesitant.  

Claiming that no one has ever stuck their necks out for him, he asks Cirrus why he should bother. Cirrus responds by saying that it’s because Roger knows how it feels to be crushed by the world, he believes that Roger can utilize Cirrus’ body for good, and not be crushed by the weight of responsibility it comes with.

Roger says that if Cirrus needs someone who knows how to keep getting back up after being slapped down, then Roger is the guy for him.

We do see shortly after, however, that this is not going to go the way Cirrus thinks, as Roger promptly uses his new laser vision to burn down his brother’s billboard.

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Story Review

Stegman and Porter have given us a fresh take on the superhero genre, while at the same time providing some much needed levity on the comic shelves this week.  

Everyone knows someone like Roger. He is the very definition, in my mind at least, of the average joe or, The Schlub, if you will. He’s not a bad guy. He just can’t get his life together. He doesn’t think before making decisions and acts on impulse and emotion rather than reason or logic.

We as readers have been given something really fun and special this week from this writing team and I can’t wait to see what shenanigans Roger gets up to later.

Artwork Overview

The artwork and lettering from Cannon, Spicer and Hill match the vibe perfectly all throughout. It’s bold, bright and even a bit gross in some scenes. It’s a perfect blend for an action/ comedy series like The Schlub.

Cannon’s art is fantastic and the coloring work done by Spicer takes full advantage of the wackiness of this book. Even the lettering from Hill is just wild and over the top, which is exactly what you want in a series like this. 

If you want something bold, bright and humorous you can’t go wrong with this one.

Overall Score: 9 OUT OF 10 – “Must Pull”

This was a lot of fun to read and review.  

Don’t get me wrong, I love an earth shattering mystery story or a gore filled horror comic as much as the next person. Once in a while though, you need some laughs in your reading. This filled that need for me.

If you’re looking to literally laugh out loud this New Comic Book Day, I think you are going to have a hard time finding a better option this week than The Schlub #1 from Image Comics!

As always everyone Be Safe, Be Kind, and Take It Easy!

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