Writer & Penciller: Nick Cagnetti / Letterers: Francois Vigneault & Cagnetti / Designed by Sarah Rockwell / Edited by Zack Soto / Oni Press
The Pitch: Breakout indy comics sensation Nick Cagnetti's sleeper hit comes to Oni Press! A new hero on the scene, Pink Lemonade dreams of doing big things, but ultimately, she'll settle for doing good and helping where she can. Things don't always work out as planned, as Pink Lemonade sees when she accidentally crashes the set of the next Rex Radical blockbuster movie. While trying to do her hero thing, there's a misunderstanding with some cops-and just when you think she's sunk, she gets an offer she may not be able to refuse! But... is it too good to be true? Meet the heroine with a mysterious past, colourful costume, altruistic outlook, a zippy motorcycle, and an overactive imagination-it's all pretty cool!
First of all, you have to know it's weird. Anyone expecting the standard adventure best stop now. What Nick Cagnetti has created in Pink Lemonade is a mental piece of pop. If you want a good prep for this, grab Milligan and Allred's X-Statix and then get yourself four cans of vanilla coke and six packs of space rocks, consume, sit back and wait for the sugar rush. You'll be somewhere over Scotland when the high wears off and the crash takes hold. It's curious that Shaky Kane did the variant cover I picked up for this one because that's the sort of arena the book is operating in - a contextless, ADHD viral space, where the machines talk back and a female Frank Sidebottom rides a moped. Honestly, I found it difficult at first. But once you surrender to the Doom Patrol-Esque nature of Cagnetti's erratic storytelling, you're away.
ELECTRA-GLIDE IN PINK!
The key, I think, is don't try to make sense of it. Like the one time you did drugs, this is best if you just let it happen to you. It's Electra Glide in Pink, I've got a fuzzbox-style laser tag for the soul. The Pitch is... I mean, what is the pitch? Really? A girl who may be a superhero but can't remember hooks up with an artist who loves a fictional Robot and her daughter, whilst battling non-existent crimes that only happen on movie sets and gets the chance to get famous? I don't know... Maybe? There is an indication that this may all be happening in her head. Which is fine, it's gotta happen in someone's head, after all. There are hints that something lies beneath the surface and sheen of all this sunshine, but that may actually work against the book’s relentless optimism. I guess we won't know for a few issues.
THERE’S A MEANINGLESSNESS, SHIELDING YOU FROM DARK TRUTHS
All the fluff of the book doesn't mean it doesn't have things to say, though. It certainly touches on the gritty reboot leanings of pop culture, whilst asking us to take things so seriously. There's meaninglessness to Pink Lemonade that might be shielding you from dark truths, telling you it's all going to be OK. The Kirby-style cosmic giant that kicks off the book feels like a nod to bonkers DC silver age, but strips it of its self-importance and replaces it with weightless zip. It's not often we get experiments like this in comics now, so snap this up and see if you like it. It won't save comics, but at least you'll be smiling as it all burns. And I mean that as a compliment.
Pink Lemonade #1 is available now! Buy back issues and complete sets of indie here.