A line I find myself using often is the following, "This book/movie/comic/TV show took a different approach, but often, there's a good reason why so many other writers in the past avoided this approach."

Brian Wood's Pounded (with art by Steve Rolston) takes a different approach.

But in this case, I believe it pays off.

Heavy Parker, the star of Pounded, is one of the more....unique comic characters of recent history. He is the the local king of the Vancouver punk scene...even though he really has no discernable talent. Heavy is all show and bluster. Underneath it all, he is an untalented, spoiled rich kid.

And he's the STAR of the book.

And the kicker, by the end of the series, you are almost ROOTING for him.

Wood does an excellent job filling Heavy with in depth characterization. The rest of the characters get much less introspection, but I suppose that's just logical.

In any event, the three-part series follows a familar path.

In #1, Heavy is at the top, but he screws over his innocent young girlfriend.

In #2, his ex-girlfriend, Missy, back from college in New York, turns the tables on Heavy, and Heavy hits the bottom.

In #3, Heavy makes his comeback...but manages to do so without really learning a lesson.

It's such an absurd literary idea, but you will find yourself totally going along with it.

And the art by Rolston is top notch. He's an amazing talent. What is he up to nowadays?

Pounded is a good comic, and one of the rare non-Grant Morrison comic series that leaves you wanting more.

Pounded was released in a tradepaperback (under 10 bucks, I believe) by Oni Press in 2002. Steve Rolston's website has links if you want to purchase it.