The Private Eye is a bit of a play on words. Sure, the main character is a P.I., but the series itself focuses on privacy. In this future the internet, smart phones, and the cloud are no more. Citizens seem to move around as if everyday is Halloween, protecting their real identity with all manner of crazy high-tech outfits like holographic heads and synthetic skin-suits.
The first thing that struck me about the comic is that it is all in widescreen. Not held back by the constraints of print, every page reads as a gatefold. Martin's art is a perfect fit for this story of outlandish costumes and colorful cityscapes. The clean lines let the colors and contrast do their work. The world, aside from the collapse of the "cloud", looks as you would imagine it would a few generations in to the future.
Once the art hooks you, Vaughan's writing keeps you firmly in place. The story starts out with our P.I. being chased by members of the Press that seem much more like Police and reporters, especially given that they are chasing him for taking pictures. If the strange world of disguised people and government-like press haven't caught your interest, the story only gets more interesting from there. His next case shows up and is appealing enough on the surface for our P.I., but what the reader sees takes the story even deeper. That's about as much as I want to say about the story, I have no desire to completely spoil it.
Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin decided to release this series on their own, completely digital and DRM free through their website: Panel Syndicate. You get to name your own price when you make the purchase and if the book is successful, then The Private Eye will be a ten issue maxi-series. I would highly recommend this to any comic fans, let's show these guys some support, not just because it's an independant venture, but because it's an excellent story.
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Marcos Martin
Publisher: Panel Syndicate
Publish Date: 3/19/2013
Price: Name your own.
