The Wild Rover Review: Cathartic Supernatural Noir

In just 18 pages, comics veteran Michael Oeming is able to take you on a journey.

No super powers or capes needed.

Sure, there’s a supernatural element involved, but Oeming maintains a noir-styled narrative that will leave you addicted and wanting more.

Not ironically, the tale’s protagonist, Shane, has a main objective- to escape addiction and reclaim his life. It’s a tale all too familiar with Oeming, who has admitted to having his own share of vices during his life. That type of accountability is something Shane is just beginning to discover. In a fight with the same demons as his mother, Shane ultimately discovers his purpose in life. But his fight is only beginning.

In a nice twist, this seemingly singular tale can continue. It should.

A one-shot, this character, this world, may never be seen again. That would be a travesty. Although the premise is different and even simple, the emotional depth of the writing and Oeming’s art make it a winner. Using a dark, almost muddy black palette, Oeming’s world is almost “Sin City” meets “Nightmare Before Christmas.” The environment is an oxymoron, disgusting, but beautiful. It’s intentionally done. An alcoholic, Shane’s world has lost its form, its function. He needs to be saved. He must save himself.

The fact Oeming creates this world through both his art and writing is not to be bypassed. There are far too few writer/artists today that can produce a word of such brevity by themselves. It’s almost as if the concept of a writer drawing his own comics is a rarity today. But in 15 minutes, Oeming is able to tell a tale and get the reader to dissect his or her own faults.

That’s more than enough to give this title a shot.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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