Little green men. It’s an image we all carry around with us, like the Coke symbol and Armstrong landing on the Moon. The inescapable expectation that aliens will somehow appear as little green men rather than, say, rocks of black glass, just sticks with us. Well, in Decoy, you’ve got little green men, and little red men, and a whole rainbow of little men. Aliens they are, yes, but not at all what we, or cop Bobby Luck, ever expected. Luck, pardon the pun, does not live up to his name. He’s a sweet, but rather dim, beat cop who’s constantly behind on his job and never quite seems to pull of the career-making derring-do that his partner, Tessa Moreno, accomplishes with zeal. Luck decides to change everyone’s falling opinion of him by taking a tip meant for Moreno and bagging the bad guys all by himself — that is, until he gets gunned down by said bad guys. Cue the little green man. Luck wakes up the next morning to discover that though he didn’t die, he is now permanently inhabited by a shape shifting little green guy named Decoy who, though causing all sorts of confusion, also manages to save Luck’s caboose in more than once scuffle. However, Decoy has enemies of his own. Can these two survive the ire of Moreno, a mad scientist, and galactic villains out to collect a renegade?
The vivid colors and fun dialog make this title perfect for anyone who enjoys action and the occasional slapstick joke. At the same time, I was inordinately distracted by one visual: Moreno’s breasts. Not because they are disproportionately buxom (though they almost are) but because they just never once look naturally placed — that’s some crazy push-up bra she’s got on there. Now, I can usually get over anatomical weirdness in comics, but the supposedly foxy Moreno just kept ending up in positions that just made no sense in terms of gravity or anatomy. Fair warning to those that twitch like I do at such things. Despite the distraction, however, the comic is a fun ride, with Luck, Moreno, and Decoy all likable, fallible heroes.
Decoy
ISBN: 9780967368320
by Eli Williams
Art by Courtney Hudleston and Bob Almond
Penny Farthing Press 2000
