David Lapham does great things for crime comics, but WildStorm's new "Sparta U.S.A." finds him working in a zone more attuned to sci-fi, although not heavily.
The debut issue introduces us to the titular tiny town "? population 9,923 "? where dozens upon dozens of football leagues provide the primary entertainment. One of its former greats was Godfrey McLaine, who's rumored to have been killed by a yeti in the hills. In reality, he's alive, well and coming back to town. Oh, and he looks like Colin Farrell, assuming the actor had red skin and carried a samurai sword.
Although, this being the first chapter, details are as yet sparse, it appears Sparta exists in some post-apocalyptic milieu, or perhaps in a town that's deliberately insulated itself from the rest of the union. After all, one of the big events is the raffling off of imported newborn babies to Sparta families.
It's hard to tell where "Sparta U.S.A." goes from here, and I'm sure that's Lapham's intent. If his job was to intrigue the reader enough to the point of wishing to pick up a second issue, he deserves a satisfactory report. The enthusiasm is diminished only slightly by the art of Johnny Timmons, whose black lines are a little thick and overused for my tastes. The drawings aren't bad by any means, but one wishes Lapham would've drawn it himself, too. "?Rod Lott
