Hell Is A Squared Circle
Chris Condon words
Francesco Biagini art
Mark Englert colors
Dave Sharpe letters
From AfterShock
Are you having trouble wrestling with the evil inside yourself? Drink that shot and peep the solicit:
Ted "The Irish Mooska" Walsh is a third-tier wrestling heel with a problem - himself. He's behind on rent, child support and his career, but he thinks he can change things. As he attempts to take control of his life, his actions leave him with blood on his hands. Ted finds himself on the run from the authorities and the darkness of his past. As Ted tries to escape his former self and build a new, better future, his mistakes come back to haunt him - in the ring and out of it.
“It rocked me. How easy it was.”
I keep thinking about the term ‘squared circle.’ Apparently, it originated in boxing. The fighters used to throw their blows within a circle painted on the ground. It’s why they call it a ring. Times change, and so did the shape. They added ropes and made the ring a square. There’s another meaning for ‘squared circle,’ though. When one “squares the circle” it’s said to mean that 2 elements are brought together which, typically, cannot exist together. That is very much Ted Walsh.
Ted wants to be good, but he can’t. Pain, violence, and substance abuse have metastasized into a terribleness that corrupts his insides down to the marrow. He’s wild, rabid, and unpredictable. Every moment of his life is a continuous struggle to stay numb and keep the demons at bay, and Chris Condon scripts this constant battle perfectly.
Every element of this narrative sings with an angelic voice. The other characters, the twists and turns, even the abrupt, bone-crushing ending, sequentially come together with the masterfulness of a seasoned conductor controlling an orchestra with every strike of the baton.
Within these pages, Condon makes his audience one with the wild world of wrestling. You’ll feel comfortable, like you belong. As an outlier to this particular fandom, I was simply astonished at how much sense everything made. This isn’t a comic book made for wrestling fans. It’s a comic book made for comic book fans that just so happens to be about wrestling.
On a deeper note, it’s not even about wrestling at all: it’s about failure. It’s about losing yourself to both the evils within and around you. It’s about hitting the bottom and, somehow, heaving yourself further into the abyss. What happens, then, when confronted with that kind of darkness?
Hell is a Squared Circle is here to tell us.
Like the script, the art excels in every panel. These hulking behemoths and their rippling muscles look wonderful thanks to the massive talent of Francesco Biagini. Biagini’s talents exist beyond the bashing as well. This is an emotional narrative where numerous defeats are dealt with extraordinarily well. Readers can sense the deflation of self-worth and see the struggles of ineptitude within Ted’s eyes.
I’ve got to admit, as much as I adore Condon’s writing and Biagini’s linework, Mark Englert’s colors are a gift to eyeballs everywhere. Englert goes well outside the ring to color this non-traditional noir narrative. It’s a neon neo-noir eyegasm. It’s weird to say, but this comic is simultaneously vibrant and dark. Heavy inks contrast with Englert’s coruscating palette. He has this third eye for color tones that knows just when to transition from warm, explosive scenes to cooler, tranquil moments.
It’s a very gorgeous book with, as always, very gorgeous lettering from the man, the myth, the comic book legend Dave Sharpe–a name that will often appear on your favorite titles from AfterShock.
I’ve been very excited to see what Chris Condon has up his sleeves. I love That Texas Blood, but I also wanted to see Condon in a different environment. Did I expect wrestling noir to be his next project? I did not, but like his other comic book endeavors, I’m left just as–if not more so–impressed.
Buy this book. $7.99 for 48 excellent, oversized pages is hell of a deal.
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A Review of Hell Is a Squared Circle
You just sold me on this Blake. I will be adding to my purchases today. I hope they still have copies when I get to my LCS.