Rating: 4/5 – Magic, Fantasy, and Humor Collide.
by ComicSpectrum EiC Bob Bretall
What is inside this comic is not apparent from the cover image or the title, although the tag-line under the title gives some indication: “The whole sworded affair starts here.”, punning sordid with sworded to give a nod to the fantasy/magical setting of the comic. The Public Relations of the title is a (so far) thin framework for the humorous hijinks that writers Matthew Sturges and Dave Justus have the main character, Dan Clover, up to in this debut issue.
Dan works at a public relations firm in Dallas and is invited to his Father’s 50th birthday party in the magical country of Sardonia. There’s a lot of verbal banter and a generally comedic atmosphere with a heavily sexual innuendo twist woven around the main tale that felt familiar to me. In particular it was evocative of Jack of Fables that Sturges co-wrote with Bill Willingham. Heck, artist David Hahn even did a turn with the Jack of Fables character back in Fables #34-35. This book felt on par, quality-wise, with Jack of Fables and I’m certainly glad it caught my eye in the Previews catalog and I pre-ordered it, otherwise I’d have missed it.
Sturges, Justus, and Hahn create a fun world where modern day combines with fantasy elements and we get the likes of airline cabins strapped to the back of dragons and knights talking on phones mounted on their horses. There are fairies, magic-wielding evil princes, and a King who publicly declares he needs to “drop a monster deuce”. Sound funny? If so, you need to seek this book out.
This is a comic series that could easily fly under the radar of readers who enjoyed Sturges’ work on Jack of Fables and Shadowpact at DC. If you liked either of those books you should definitely seek this out. Public Relations #1 may be challenging to find at your local shop unless you special order it,as Devil’s Due/1First Comics are just getting off the ground and are likely not stocked in depth on the racks of most comic shops. If you’re a fan of this brand of humor, it’s well worth the effort to get a copy of this debut issue and follow along as the story unfolds.
Reviewed by: Bob Bretall
(bob@comicspectrum.com)
https://comicspectrum.com/ Covering the full spectrum of comics culture
Follow ComicSpectrum: 
ComicSpectrum Comic Reviews 