Next month, AfterShock Comics will release There’s Something Wrong with Patrick Todd #1. The first issue of the new supernatural crime series comes from writer Ed Brisson, artist Gavin Guidry, colorist Chris O’Halloran, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Today The Beat is pleased to present an exclusive preview of the debut issue, which introduces the titular Patrick Todd and his supporting cast.
Here’s how AfterShock describes There’s Something Wrong with Patrick Todd #1:
Fifteen-year-old Patrick Todd lives on the run, hiding out in seedy motels, living out of his backpack and making sure that his mom – recently struck down by a mysterious illness of the mind – is well cared for. But doctors cost money. A lot of money. And, so, Patrick turns to a life of crime. Using the telepathic abilities he’s been hiding all his life, he forces the worst of the worst to rob banks, taking the money before making them turn themselves in to the police.
But someone has taken notice of Patrick’s schemes. A reckoning is coming. Will the police find Patrick in time to save him, or will he become yet another victim of the killer called Zeus?
In a statement back when the series was first announced, writer Ed Brisson described his thought process in developing the story:
This book is one that’s been bouncing around in my head for the last couple of years, one that I’d pull out and work on from time to time, just letting grow this idea of a kid who can force anyone to do what he wants to.
At fifteen, Patrick would be at an age where he’s developing his sense of affective empathy, his ability to really consider the effect of his actions on others. Having the ability to make others do what you want is going to impact those feelings of empathy and I think that there’s a lot there that can be really interesting to examine in the story. A lot of the decisions he makes now will have an indelible impact on the person he becomes later in life. His wants, in this story arc, are pure. He wants to help his mom. We can all empathize with that. However, his methods are somewhat cruel. Sure, he believes that those he manipulates deserve it (and many of them do), but appointing yourself sole arbitrator of who does and doesn’t deserve to be punished is an incredibly slippery slope. At every point, with every decision, Patrick is at a crossroads. Does he become a hero? Or does he become a villain?
Check out the exclusive four-page preview of There’s Something Wrong with Patrick Todd #1, as well as the incentive variant cover for the issue by Damian Couceiro and O’Halloran, below. The first issue of the new series is due out in stores and digitally on Wednesday, July 6th.
