REVIEW: ‘Getting it Together,’ Issue #1

Getting it Together #1 is published by Image Comics, written by Sina Grace and Omar Spahi, with art by Sina Grace and Jenny D. Fine. Say hello to Jack. Jack is friends with Sam. Sam just had a bad break up with Lauren. Lauren is Jack’s sister, and his roommate. Oh, and Jack has a blind date tonight. In case you haven’t guessed it, Jack’s life is getting a bit crazy at the moment.

The middleman. The poor fool who happens to be friends/family with both parties in a relationship. If you’ve been there, like me, you know it can get awkward. And that’s before the breakup. When the breakup occurs the resulting situation can become a veritable minefield for the poor individual caught in the middle. Especially if one or both of the involved parties decides to get nasty about it. Under the best of circumstances it is a delicate balance of being supportive and advisory to both parties, while not accidentally letting anything slip you shouldn’t. Any way you cut it, it ain’t easy. As Jack is about to discover.

Getting it Together #1 handles it’s nuanced subject matter in a clear, level way, with the situations and personalities presented feeling up to date with the modern world. However, while it delivers it’s narrative well, and the modern feel gives it a bit of freshness to its story, it doesn’t really deliver much to truly make it stand out from other takes on it’s subject matter.

To start with, let’s talk about Jack. As the primary source of the reader’s perspective in Getting it Together #1 Jack is the character we most get to know. He seems friendly and understanding, with a generous nature. As he is bounced between sides with his friend and his sister he does everything he can to remain impartial. And all this while getting to know a new boyfriend.  Basically, Jack is a good guy. In fact I’d call him the text book example of a good guy. However, that’s all it feels like Jack is. Between spending time talking to each half of the recently broken up couple, and starting to see a new squeeze, we don’t really get anything beyond the fact that Jack is good.

This one dimensional presentation isn’t limited to just Jack either. Most of the other characters come across the same way. With them, it can be a bit more forgiven. No one else has a significant enough presence in the story to get too fleshed out. But all the same, it reinforces the feeling that Getting it Together #1 is more occupied by two dimensional cut outs than actual characters.

Just as with the writing the artistic presentation here is well executed, but nothing that stands out. It captures it’s scenes well, and presents the emotion of the characters in a clear manner. But, that’s as far as it goes. There is nothing particularly wrong here, and the art is pleasing enough, it just never stood out to me.

In the end, Getting it Together #1 delivers a decent story. It has some heart mixed with some nice moments but just never really gets to step beyond that to be something truly noteworthy.

Getting it Together #1 is available September 2nd wherever comics are sold.