Is this zany title worth your attention?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

From Walt Flanagan and Bryan Johnson of AMC TV’s “Comic Book Men” comes “Cryptozoic Man”! Alan Ostman, a middle-aged husband/father, sees his life quickly unravel when his daughter goes missing on a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest…Bigfoot country. After Gray aliens abduct him from a roadside bar, he learns that the fate of the world is dependent on trapping the world’s most legendary cryptids…not to mention defeating a psychopath in a pig-shaped leather bondage mask, Alan knows he has his work cut out for him. The storyline revolving around this four issue series will be revisited in Comic Book Men Season III.

The odyssey of Alan Ostman is a complex and compelling journey.  The first issue in this mini-series ebbs and flows with the personality of the creative team behind it, even as audience members might find themselves more or less confused.

Bryan Johnson takes what he and Walter Flanagan envisioned and absolutely runs with it. The text of this comic speaks with a good enough personality as it strives to keep the varying pieces in play.  I found the characterizations to be compelling but not too deep, as we’re only given small glimpses of history to go on.  There’s a lot unexplained here but for what we’re given I found myself engaged from the first page to the final panel.  Though, I did find the cliffhanger to be more than a bit perplexing.

The art birthed by Walter Flanagan is the best part of the release.  The details and steady hand crafted some very compelling visuals that easily tickled my fancy.  They existed beyond the narration, as they employed a natural view of a supernatural world.  There are plenty of solid design choices here but there were a couple moments where the details gave way to overly static forms causing a bit of a disconnect.

Cryptozoic Man #1 is a beginning that carries enough within the confines of its narrative to warrant your attention.  It’s not perfect but it earns a recommendation.

4/5