Any Given Smile #1 – Second Look

Just before the Final Order Cutoff(FOC), Nerd Initiative’s friends over at IDW Publishing gave me an advanced copy of Any Given Smile #1. With the premier issue hitting shelves today, I thought it would be fun to pick it up and see how it feels after a month.

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Shawn!

A huge thank you to IDW Publishing for providing this issue for review ahead of the Final Order Cutoff

Creative Team

Writer: Stephanie Williams
Artist: Pablo M. Collar
Color Artist: Tríona Farrell
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Cover Artist: Ashley Witter

Writing

In my initial review for Any Given Smile #1, I said “While nothing major is revealed in this issue, Williams still manages to slide a few twists and surprises into Any Given Smile #1, making it a page turner that you need on your pull list.” Over a month later this still holds up as absolutely true. Stephanie Williams has entered her horror era and we are all reaping the benefits. For a first issue, the narrative for this issue is genuinely terrifying. After a second and third read, this feels like the kind of story that Pablo Collar is not sketching in the dark when the script comes in from Williams. It feels as if the stage is being set for some truly devious and diabolical stories to join into the existing universe.

What really manages to stand out about William’s work on this first issue as while there may be some elements of body horror, the depth of Williams writing ability shows through how cerebral the horror is in this issue. It feels like Williams narrative crawls into it your head and attaches to you in this issue.

Art

Pablo M. Collar, Tríona Farrell, and Ariana Maher saw what Williams put into this narrative and matched it blow for blow! In my initial review, I pointed out Collar’s line work and that while I love the work Tríona Farrell did on colors, Collar’s work would allow this to stand well as a black and white comic. On a reread , I remain even more convinced of how great it would be to see IDW drop a “washed” version of this issue that cuts it down to just the lines. It would add additional horror to the story. The only reason I would oppose that is because of just how good Farrell’s colors are on this issue. Farrell nails the colors so perfectly I’m convinced William’s script said “ Miami Vice vibes” because the palette feels so perfectly Floridian. Ariana Maher stuns as always. There’s some neat areas throughout the lettering in this issue where Maher slips a little of her own style into the lettering but does so in a way that doesn’t distract from the story.

Final Thoughts

Any Given Smile #1 is a touchdown right out of the gate. That’s what I led off my original final thoughts with and it stands. Issue #1 feels like getting an appetizer at a restaurant so good, you can’t wait to get to the meal. IDW put together an immaculate creative team for this issue, and I think this will make the beginning of a beautiful run for this series.

Revised Overall Grade: 10 / 10

Thank you again to IDW Publishing for the chance to review this comic ahead of FOC. Final Order Cutoff (FOC) for Any Given Smile #1 is August 17th. You can preorder the series wherever you get your comics.