New Series “Beautiful Canvas” Is a Master Class in the Element of Surprise

Writer: Ryan K Lindsay / Artist: Sami Kivelä / Colorist: Triona Farrell / Letterer: Ryan Ferrier /Black Mask Studios When I first saw preview art and such for Beautiful Canvas earlier on Twitter this month I was intrigued and added it my mental list of “Comics that look really awesome and I should really remember to make a note and not forget about them and buy them.” Beautiful Canvas #1 went on that list alright. And life always makes a way to make me forget about important things, which includes that list. Towards the end of the week, this comic went on sale, I remembered, bought it, and finally sat down to read. Let me tell you it has put Black Mask Studios on the map, and I’ll explain why. Many readers are talking about the opening pages, but the very first to be exact: it is our protagonist, Lon Eisley, hitwoman, seated, having accomplished her job as her target lays on the couch very much dead. A bullet hole is in his forehead, her eyes are glazed looking up at the ceiling and blood and brain matter decorate the wall behind him. He’s very dead. Yet in the panels below, he tilts his head to her and simply says to Lon, “You’re overthinking it.” It is a hell of an opening and proves to be as strong as the rest of the book. This is also a great glimpse into the head of Lon, who as a character is so on the fence about many things which include her profession, the side effects of that profession, and the fact that her girlfriend is now pregnant. She’s uncertain, but more or l…