A review by uosdwisrdewoh
MPLS Sound by Joseph Phillip Illidge, Hannibal Tabu, Meredith Laxton

3.0

In this admirable but slightly formulaic graphic novel, a band in 80s Minneapolis tries to make a name for itself as it struggles with Prince’s massive influence. This scene is a fertile, unexplored ground in comics, but convincingly portraying music is really hard in a graphic novel. The performances purposefully eschew any floating musical notes and lyrics, leaving it to the reader’s imagination, but these scenes, in spite of Meredith Laxton’s best efforts, emphasize the static nature of the images. Laxton’s art is attractive, reminiscent of Jamie McKelvie, but doesn’t really soar when the story requires it—although to be fair that’s a challenge even the most skilled artist would struggle with. The cameos from real people are interesting but sit oddly, most notably in a scene where Morris Day serves as the heel in a battle of the bands against the protagonist’s fictional group Starchild. In the end, the story (by veteran comics journalists Joseph P. Illidge and Hannibal Tabu) concludes rather abruptly, in an epilogue that almost seems like the onscreen text at the end of a documentary, one that throws in a romantic plot point that wasn’t set up at all in the preceding pages.

I wanted to like this more than I did, since comics in general sorely need stories based in reality. It’s still a good effort. I can’t wait to read more like it.