The Factor

by Nat Gertler, Joe Staton, Justine Shaw

The work that brought writer Nat Gertler his Eisner Award nomination is collected in book form for the first time. This is a super-hero tale where you never see the super-hero. Instead, a series of connected short stories show how his presence effects the lives of everyone the cop on the beat, the crook on the street, the reporter, the retiree, the kid playing with a doll of the hero. Over 20 stories, illustrated by Eisner- and Friends of Lulu Award-nominee Justine Shaw (Nowhere Girl), Joe Staton, Ignatz Award- and Friends Of Lulu Award-winner and six-time Eisner nominee Carla Speed McNeil, mini-comics pioneer Matt Feazell, and many more.

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2004

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel presents a truly unusual approach to telling a superhero story. For one thing, the reader never sees the superhero, or even gets a coherent description, other than that he probably wears a star on his chest.
Each short chapter is illustrated by a different artist, including Joe Staton, Carla Speed McNeil and Tom Luth, among a wide variety of others. The varying styles of the artists as they illustrate The Factor purely from the descriptions of witnesses further clouds the imagery, which is a good thing, as it furthers several of the stories.
The tales themselves range from serious crime stories to slapstick comedy, as the ripples of a superhero's crime-busting affect people in varying ways.
I was familiar with Nat Gertler primarily from his writing for kids and from his work on the history of comics. This shows a side of his work well worth reading.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise is solid and well orchestrated throughout many angles by one writer and drawn by many artists.

The art was what took the star off because I didn't find any superb and even disliked a handful.