Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Colourist: Matthew Wilson
Release date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl, the new mini-series from Image Comics and a sequel to the two previous Phonogram stories, as a stand-alone comic book is a complicated commotion that will challenge the reader but ultimately seems too cryptic to appeal.

Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl is set in a world where music has magic power. Young Emily Aster becomes obsessed with music videos and trades half of her personality to become a stylish witch and share two bodies with Claire. Claire is literally an “immaterial girl” as she’s trapped on the other side of television land (“behind the screen”). Emily in the real world joins a coven led by The Myth and later evidentially becomes a music producer, although what she’s doing and why she’s doing it is not clear to anyone who has not read the previous stories.

In Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl it is not clear what messages writer Kieron Gillen is trying to espouse. Gillen seems to have a love-hate relationship with music videos, the White Stripes and even love itself. Jamie McKelvie’s art is expressive and well drafted, even if he’s allergic to backgrounds. Matthew Wilson’s colours work best in dark settings.

Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl would do better by being less cryptic and display more oomph. And, as a cold and emotionless intellectual exercise, there is no reward either. Too many mixed messages and not enough focus on message.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker