Slots Dan Panosian
Slots Dan Panosian 9,5/10 6391 votes
When you’re a superstitious guy used to living while you’re young, what do you do when you’re older and your luck runs out? If you’re Stanley Dance, ex-boxer and charming hustler, you go for a shot at redemption. Read on for our review of “Slots” #1, which contains minor spoilers.
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Written and Illustrated by Dan Panosian
Lettered by Pat Brosseau
You can say this about the life of Stanley Dance: he did it his way. Unfortunately, his way never took getting old into account. Now, the former boxer is on his last legs, looking for redemption…but he’ll settle for going down swinging. Roll the dice with superstar artist DAN PANOSIAN as he creates a bold and breathtaking vision of Las Vegas, where everything old can become new, and superstition influences how the chips fall.
When all’s said and done, when you look back on your life and the way you’ve lived, what does it all add up to? The decisions you’ve made, the chances you’ve taken . . . where does it leave you? Those are the questions facing Stanley Dance in “Slots” #1, the new series from writer, illustrator and creator Dan Panosian. As it turns out, Stanley doesn’t like the answers to those soul-searching questions, and his journey is a long and somewhat reluctant path towards redemption.
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Stanley is a guy who’s best days are all behind him. A cheeky charmer who’s no stranger to a con; an ex boxer with more than his fair share of fixed fights in his past; a superstitious guy that always left his fate in the hands of Lady Luck. If you met this guy in real life you’d love to hate him, but within the pages of “Slots” #1, Dance is the ultimate underdog. That still doesn’t necessarily make him a nice guy, but at least he’s trying.
Dan Panosian is no stranger to comics, working for every major publisher in his time, but this is his first creator-owned work. Reading the issue though, there’s a confidence in the plotting and an effortless nature to the linework that feels like a seasoned veteran. More pervasive though, is the sense that this is a labour of love that’s been a long time gestating in Panosian’s head. The underdog’s tale isn’t a new or particularly rare narrative, but “Slots” #1 manages to fill the page with a depth of character, and the foundations are being laid for a rich and complex world surrounding Dance, especially as he delves back into the boxing world he left behind, that all leads to the belief that Panosian knows exactly what he’s doing.
Dan Panosian Firebird
The cartooning on display here is truly gorgeous. The opening pages especially, a simple scene of Dance in a roadside diner, not only set up the main protagonist extremely efficiently – the superstitious way he throws salt over his shoulder; the gruff charm; the tall tales; the effort to be good while still cutting out on the bill – but capture in the linework a true sense of character. The facial expressions, the body language and the level of detail in the scene are all wonderfully effective, and evocative. The screentone – or zip-tone – shading adds an old school sense of texture that absolutely suits the narrative, and the four wide panels that make up the two-page sequence draw you into the scene and establish a pleasing balance as you read down the page.
Dan Panosian Artist
From there the book moves at a fairly swift pace, structurally maintaining the traditional aesthetic established by the art, in its use of titled chapters. Once the main driving force of the plot kicks in, the book opens up to a sumptuous double page spread as Dance drives down the Las Vegas strip, spiritually and literally revisiting his past, in the place that sums up everything both right and wrong about his life. A man very much at the end of his luck returns to the one place which practically thrives on the superstitious concept. It’s fun to explore this journey of a man who’s willing to end his life because his luck has run out, when the simple fact is, with all his shady dealings and match-fixing, he’s always made his own luck.
Dan Panosian Art
Whether it’s the pulp-inspired aesthetic or the well-worn Vegas setting, there are more than its fair share of noir influences here – the unloveable rogue with the heart of gold, the glamorous femme fatale, the high-stakes gamble against a powerful figure – but at its heart, “Slots” #1 is a tale of redemption, or at least one man’s journey towards it. It’s a compelling world that Panosian is building, one with depth and complexity that’s mirrored in its flawed, roguish protagonist. Stanley Dance’s journey towards redemption may uncover more and more unlikeable things about him, but there’s always something compelling about a loveable loser trying to do the right thing.
Slots Dan Panosian
Slots Dan Panosian
Final Verdict: 8.4 – A gorgeously illustrated issue that lays the groundwork for a compelling underdog story.