REVIEW: Deep Soul #1

AJ Lieberman (creator/writer), Tom Rhodes (art/color) and Darren Rawlings (layouts)
Publisher: Doppelganger Publishing@_TomRhodes

Do you believe in reincarnation?  Have we all walked the Earth previously with no memory of who we were and what we did?  This is in part kind of the debate this book from Doppelganger Publishing Inc. hopes to tackle, in this scary science type of story.

Doctor Jake Penn is a neurobiologist with a very neat, albeit expensive, skill set.  He has developed a way for people to regress into their deep soul, where actual images and feelings of actions taken in past lives are stored.  By activating them the patient gets to see, hear and feel their past life.  But this isn’t hypnosis.  Once awake after the procedure, the patient retains everything.  But what is the impact to the patient and how did Doctor Penn discover this?  There is also a question as to why experiment at all, which is answered in the first issue.

Created and written by AJ Lieberman, who uses his cast of patients to discuss how what Penn is offering is better than the hypnotherapy they sometimes thinks it is.  Lieberman also does a good job with the level of realism that drives Penn’s’ actions, even if Penn’s ultimate goal may be out of reach.  The setup of the book is quite simple, but this doesn’t diminish the book as it makes it easier for the reader to buy into Penn’s motive.

The art is supplied by Tom Rhodes, whose style carries a level of realism, matching the script.  The lines are clear although, at times, the colors tend to be on the heavy side obscuring some of the details.  If I had to compare the art, I would suggest that its similar to Darwyn Cooke or David Mazzocchelli with simple facial expressions, although posture wise, improvements may be required.

Deep Soul is an interesting book.  It has a strong premise, with actions taken by Doctor Penn both seemingly to be realistic and logical.  Of course, like any type of story where there is a strong premise, there is the risk of the writer painting themselves into a corner.  I hope that this doesn’t happen here as I would be very interested in the continuing efforts of Doctor Penn.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes
I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
Mastodon
error

Enjoy this site? Sharing is Caring :)