Lona Steelrose is an aspiring and talented wrestler who wants to repeat her mother's feat of becoming the greatest wrestler in the world. Her dream may come true when a mysterious necromancer offers her participation in the greatest wrestling tournament of all time. New comic book publishing house Suddenly! starts with a high bar, serving from the top!
Life and death
The story presented in the comic book tells the story of a girl named Lona. Her mother – Yua Steelrose – was a legendary wrestler whose last fight ended tragically, as the woman was accidentally killed in the ring. 10 years have passed since those tragic events and we see Lona trying to follow in her mother’s footsteps and wants to become a pro wrestler herself. Her only problem is that she can’t find a coach to take her under his wing. Worse yet, her father keeps trying to dissuade her from this crazy idea. It’s hardly surprising, since this sport has already taken away his beloved – he doesn’t want the same thing to happen to his daughter. So, the misunderstood and disappointed heroine, on one of her night walks, comes across… a necromancer. It is said that you can meet strange people at night, but this is rather rare.
Anyway, this guy offers Lona to join his tag team tournament, in which the winners will be given the opportunity to bring someone close to them back to life. The girl immediately agrees, but the problem is that since it’s a team tournament, she needs a partner. Perhaps the heroine was failing too often in training because she somehow decided that offering to create a team for the guy who killed her mother was a great idea. She was lucky though, as Cobrasun is still angry with herself for that night and after some thought, agrees to join Lona in the tournament. Together they will have to face wrestlers from the farthest corners of the galaxy, but they have one goal – to resurrect Yua Steelrose.
The author, Daniel Warren Johnson, did not hide the fact that the inspiration for this story came to him a few years ago, when his daughter was born. He found himself watching professional wrestling while trying to put his baby to bed and somehow became fascinated with the sport. And you can really feel it, both in terms of writing and art (more on the latter in a moment). Of course, the plot itself is probably not very innovative, although it has some nice twists.
Let’s show them how we do it
It is also clear that there is something more hidden under all this wrestling veneer. Even though the players come from different worlds and dimensions, they seem to be very… real and show real emotions. We feel their pain and everything they are willing to do to make that pain go away. It’s a moving family drama set against the backdrop of exciting wrestling matches, in a graphic style that, surprisingly, I approached with some caution. I was afraid that this chaotic line would turn me off, but it turned out that there was a method to this madness. Johnson fills every sequence he draws with energy and dynamism. His ability to show movement during duels is amazing.
There were moments when I felt as if I was standing there among a crowd of fans. I could almost hear the unique and satisfying sound of the ring as the wrestlers moved around it. The illustrations may seem overloaded with color, strange perspectives, or even more grotesque anatomy of the players, but it’s all dripping in detail, trying to best convey the shots, speed and sharpness.
The perfect and energetic line is complemented by the colors created by Mike Spicer. They are bright, vivid and capture the wonderful way some wrestlers contort themselves as they fly through the air. They fit perfectly into the crazy, colorful world of wrestling that Johnson has created. The culmination of all this are the designs of wrestling teams, as weird as possible (e.g. the orangutan team or the pizza man).
Ready for the grand finale?
The combination of narrative and illustrations in the matches makes the comic a quick read. There is no shortage of great moments that create a wow effect or catch your heart. The author did a phenomenal job of telling a touching story while exaggerating the action to an extreme level in an inter-dimensional wrestling tournament.
It’s been a few years since I watched a wrestling match, but while reading From the Whole Petty! nice memories from that period came back, which certainly influenced the way I perceived the story. Anyone can talk about what they love, but it takes real talent to write about something you love so convincingly that the reader begins to understand that passion. And whatever you say about Johnson, the guy has such talent and that’s why he managed to create an engaging and enjoyable wrestling comic book.
I can wholeheartedly recommend it ! anyone who is a fan of comics, wrestling or emotional stories. The story told here is much deeper than we think, and the final scene only seems to confirm it, serving as a message to each of us. Because, just like in wrestling, in life, it is not the end that is most important, but the story itself.
