Supermarket

by Brian Wood

In the future world of Supermarket, it's the literal truth. Legitimate and black-market economies rule the City, overseen by the vying factions of the Yakuza and Porno Swede crime families.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1600100090
• ISBN13: 9781600100093
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: IDW Publishing
• Length: 91 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 7.1" x 10.1"
• Age Range: 16 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 11 and higher

Customer Reviews

Supermarket TPB: The Cash Money Edition (IDW)

I read this last month and the first thing that came to my mind when I first flipped through it's pages was that the art was gorgeous. I've always been a fan of Kristian's cover art but I've never seen her interiors and, I must say, this is a pleasant surprise for me. The art is attractive and very modern looking, which sells the book's premise as a modern near-future urban story. IDW made the right choice by getting Kristian on this book. The story was good as well. It's about a young lady named Pella who works for a (surprise, surprise) supermarket. She's a typical, normal young lady who took up that job in the supermarket simply to get a feel of having a real job. Things were pretty routine til one day she comes back to her house and finds her parents murdered. Furthermore she finds out that her parents were formerly from the Yakuza and Pormo Swede crime families (and that they are very, very wealthy). The story kicks off from there with Pella working her way out of that predicament. It borrows many themes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juiliet, the rival crime families playing a major part in the story. There's also many moments where the story shifts from the main plot to Pella's own thoughts and feelings. On the whole it feels very different from the other Brian Wood stories I've read till now. I strongly believe that this book is about rivalries and about the economy and about finances, and the roles these factors play out in society, which is interesting. It's like Brian took elements from Channel Zero and mixed it with the sprawling adventures of the Couriers. It's really fun to read a book like that. The ending is one of those things where you need time to figure out but you get after awhile. Pretty satisfying. Good read, add it to your library. Supermarket is the kind of comic book that makes reading comic books cool and respectable.

Loved it the first time, and it's still great!

My first introduction to the work of Kristian Donaldson was Forsaken over at Image, which was still some amazing work from early in his career. However, Supermarket was an opus for Kristian in terms of his use of brush work and interpretation of colors. There are few people in the industry that can utilize color combinations alone to create an atmosphere or even support emotions the way that Kristian does. This is the book that really made me a fan of Kristian Donaldson, and I suggest anyone who is a fan of Brian Wood that this is a must have, and anyone who loves art and has never seen the work of Kristian, do yourself a favor and pick this up!

Fun, lightweight adventure comic

Imagery leaps off the page, with a skittles palette and spike-haired people. Everything has an edge, and you might get cut. Imagine that the Capulets and Montagues were crime families, and that Romeo and Juliet lived to raise a daughter. That's Pella, filled with sixteen-going-on-forty ennui about her parents' and her own conspicuously consumptive existence. Then, one day, she comes home to find her parents murdered and a codeword message waiting for her. Then, it turns out that the code has been broken, her safe house isn't safe, and even her electronic existence evaporates as she watches. She also finds out that her parents weren't who she thought, and neither is she, and neither is the cold-blooded killer who throws her a lifeline. It's a hyperchromatic teen power fantasy about being The One, with grabbing graphics and a few nice extras at the end. If you like action comics without capes, tights, or nudity (except maybe a little), or if you want to see where narrative imagery is going, dig in. -- wiredweird

Awesome

Lighter than most of Wood's work. The story is very fast paced. Stuff happens and more stuff happens. It's very cool without that kind of trying too hard feeling you get from some works. The art is beautiful, but it is really priced too high.