It’s about time someone made an action sports comic and a wakeboarding one at that. But what ulterior motives could be lurking under this freshly dried ink? What gimmicky hackjob is awaiting once we crack open the attractively drawn cover and look at the color pages inside? Upon further inspection of the production website – www.northairentertainment.com this does appear to be a sincere story told from a pair of siblings who do enjoy the lifestyle and culture of action sports. So what does a comic book look like without caped superheroes flying around, fighting crime? Actually… Not bad. Refreshing even. Take a look.
This is Callun or Cal for short. He’s wasting his summer days away partying with his friends at the lake house, until that is, his girlfriend breaks up with him for a Charger driving, 401(k) stockpiling, fist bumping, douche-in-a-sweater-vest. This event seemingly spurs Cal and the group to uproot from their sleepy hometown in rural, Midwestern, nowhere and head out towards the fringe capital of Bro Culture: Lake Victoria, or as we are assuming, it’s real-life counterpart, Lake Havasu, Arizona.
We can tell right away from the fashion differences and the tattooed and body pierced denizens that this is not home. We’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy!
But the hometown spirit and mid-west work ethic prompt the group to throw a professional riding event at the lake in the defense of the friendly marina that is being litigiously squeezed by the town’s snooty yacht club and it’s two hard nosed Park Rangers.
Shake The Lake Volume 1 is a fun introduction to these characters and a foray into a new style of graphic novel. There’s some genuinely funny comedy and I’m hopeful that the rest of the series picks up where Volume 1 ends as it really starts to ramp up in the final pages. You’re getting a good volume of work here at 40 beautiful pages and I can only assume that the major antagonists arrive in full force at the start of the next volume.
Action sports fans, do yourself a favor and head over to Amazon and get yourself a digital copy of Shake The Lake Volume 1 for about the price of a tall latte.