Illusive Arts Entertainment, publisher of the photocomic Dorothy, is launching a new title, Tony Loco. They’ve created an online trailer that establishes quite a distinctive mood, set in the Southwestern desert.

Sadly, little of this story of a redemptive hero is apparent in the first issue (provided as a PDF review copy). Instead of introducing us to the character alluded to, the first issue jumps back to what I assume is his origin. He started as a mental patient, and a silent, morose one. Too much space is spent on unnecessarily establishing the mental hospital, a stereotypical setting that will be familiar to most readers already.

It’s an awful lot of bleh to get through without much reason to care yet. I know current wisdom is to make the first issue an origin story… but if your story is lengthy, needing multiple issues to tell, it might be a better idea to give the reader a reason to sign on for the run. Nothing much happens in issue one, and certainly nothing that makes the character interesting (unless you find any given mental patient curiosity-inducing).

The publisher describes the book as

a horror western about a man recovering his mental health at the urging of his stuffed toy elephant. Along the way, he has to clean up the streets of his town and find a way to inspire its citizens. Creator Mark Teague has called it “Batman in the Barrio,” or perhaps Desperado meets The Maxx. One thing for certain: with writer Derek McCaw, Teague has put together a bold and original book. It could also be seen as a modern re-imagining of Don Quixote.

That’s more interesting that what I read, and sadly, almost nothing from that description is apparent in the first issue, due to stores December 6.