If you haven’t picked up Tyson Hesse’s Diesel #1 from BOOM! Studios yet, you need to. Whether you’re a fan of manga, steampunk, adventure, or smartass, overly-confident airship captains (in training) there’s something for you to like.
Fans of the long-running, completely irreverent web comic Boxer Hockey will recognize Hesse’s work immediately. He won over even more fans with his bizarre, cutsey-yet-head-trippy artwork in the comic book adaptation of The Amazing World of Gumball. And now he shines in the steampunk-manga world of Diesel.
Diandra, the daughter of a successful airship-owner, hasn’t found her way in life. She’s invented some things (that generally blow up) and works in the airship garage (mostly taking out trash) but she’s only one day away from her eighteenth birthday. Within hours she’ll take over her father’s airship and all her dreams will come true! Even if those dreams are pretty vague and unrealistic, and even her friends think she’d be better off learning how to do something before she takes over.
But she’s confident and undaunted, and assisted by a trusty, rusty, clockwork robot and a puzzling amount of personal static electricity, right up until the airship is attacked and a strange engine crashes to the deck. An engine that roars to life when she touches it.
The second issue of Diesel is due out October 21st, and I’m really looking forward to it. Hesse’s art (dynamic, fun, and very pretty to look at) and his depiction of Diandra (confident, hilarious, clueless and immature) have really grabbed me in only one issue. He’s somehow made her infuriating, yet infinitely likable at the same time. Her further adventures are going to be worth a look.
Preview images courtesy of BOOM! Studios.