Plush, written by Doug Wagner with art by Daniel Hillyard, coloring by Rico Renzi, and lettering by Ed Dukeshire, has a simple yet intriguing premise: cannibalistic furries. In Plush, Devin is struggling with his relationship, so his friend, a furry, invites him to a party with other furries. Here, Devin discovers a dark secret: some of these furries are cannibals. Image Comics’ new miniseries dares to explore the taboo by blending literal human-eating with a specific kink and its community; however, despite being a shocking premise on paper, Plush #1 does not push the boundaries far enough.
This is a short and quick read, which is excellent for those who want to give Plush #1 a shot. Everything that needs to be covered in the first issue is, and there is enough intrigue by the end to keep readers on board for a second issue, especially regarding why the furries eat people and what they want Devin for. However, given how condensed this is, it feels like there are pieces of the story readers are not fully seeing. For instance, whenever the characters are in a new setting, it feels as if the reader is dropped in the middle of a scene later than they should have been. Because of this, these scene changes feel like they would work better on screen than on page.
The build-up to when Devin learns about the cannibalism is not only solid, it is also the best pacing in the issue. Readers are given little clips through the panels about what horrible thing is happening. They then are rewarded with a huge splash page that lives up to the comic’s promise of being “neon-horror.” Renzi’s vibrant color work is on full display here, and it has readers excited for more. Meanwhile, Hillyard captures the comedy and horror of this story through the expressions of the characters at play in this brutal moment. In short, the payoff of this scene highlights the strong team Plush #1 has.
Despite how quick a read Plush #1 is, it feels as if the climactic end happens at the issue’s midpoint. That big reveal is an excellent one and is enough to keep readers on board for more; however, because it happens in the middle of Plush #1, the remaining pages feel unnecessary and distract from the heart of this comic — the cannibalistic furries. There is a side story about Devin, the cops, and his love interest’s father, but for a side story, it takes up a solid amount of real estate in this comic. When collected with future issues, perhaps this will read better and blend more with the cannibal storyline, but at the moment, it feels as if there are two stories going on.
As for the characters, Devin is the standout for Plush #1. Unlike his friend, he is not part of the furry community, so he serves as a fish-out-of-water character. This makes him a solid audience surrogate. He is still a distinct character thanks to his specific struggles with his relationship as well as how expressive he is. It is no wonder why Wagner and Hillyard are frequent collaborators, using the strength of the narrative and art to ensure Devin stands out.
While Image Comics’ Plush #1 has a unique premise that is meant to raise eyebrows, it mostly teases this evocative story in the first half of the issue. There is a lot to play with here, and while the creative team could be holding out for later stories, the first issue reaches its climax too soon, thus simmering out in the last half. While readers are left intrigued by how it starts, Plush has to push those boundaries even more and focus on being what it promised readers it would be — a neon-horror story about human-eating furries.
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