I never read the first series of Demo, but Wood’s “Local” is one of my favorite hardcover collections, and I’m a fan of Cloonan’s art, so it seemed like something I’d enjoy.  And, it’s a light week at my store, so I wanted to try a few different things.

In the back pages, Wood describes this title as a series of short films, and that’s very apt for this issue.  This really felt like a short student film.  Not one of those terrible ones where a bunch of pale, thin guys with scruffy beards sit around in white t-shirts pondering eggs and cigarettes as metaphors for their relationships, but one of those moderately interesting one that, on its own, doesn’t blow you away; It leaves me wanting to see what the next film will be and if, like Local, they’ll all tie together in the end.

This particular issue is an interesting concept: a woman trying to piece together a dream.  I thought it was pretty clear from page one where the story would go.  I wasn’t wrong.  And, as endings go it wasn’t at all satisfying, but it wasn’t, per se, bad.  And Cloonan’s art only threw me a couple of times; For the most part, it was gorgeous and detailed.

I don’t reccomend this title for everyone.  In fact, I have to wait until the next issue to see whether this is something I want to continue reading.  But if you’re in the mood for something slightly different from your superhero fare, but nothing that’s going to melt your brain, this is a neat little short narrative, and it requires no knowledge of the previous Demo series or commitment to read any future issues.