Review by Frank Plowright

The opening chapter to Endless Summer is Lonnie’s introduction to the California beach vibe of 1963, and a right rollercoaster it is. It starts with his getting a kicking from the local bikers, looks up when he’s co-opted as sax player for a local band, and then plummets downhill again.

Mid-20th century crime dramas are B. Clay Moore’s preferred form, and here he stops in an era as yet unaware of the seismic societal and artistic changes the remainder of the 1960s will bring, yet the starting points are present, not least tainted drugs,

Shane Patrick White on art is a real schizoid turn. You’d swear the loose and cluttered eccentrically coloured cartooning over the first chapter was a different artist from the one turning in clear and less cluttered panels for the remainder of the book. There’s also an occasional fully painted panel found in that first chapter. It’s as if this is a project White began, then picked up again after honing his craft on other work, yet most of the book makes it seem as if White really enjoys noodling on the period details. Some aspects of the art still need a little work, such as the continuity of a car crash where White’s chosen the eye-catching large image, yet doesn’t convince with the path the car takes after.

Moore introduces a wide range of characters and spending time establishing them all means not enough space given to the important elements. The plot concerns a rogue government agent putting together a team of teenagers to police their local community. Scott Ivory feels having feet on the ground among the possible threats mean they can be dealt with more efficiently, but before putting the gang together we’re shown his fatal version of efficiency.

Because it’s based on a premise that’s not greatly credible Endless Summer needs to be really strong on plot and personalities, but it’s not. One can’t imagine most of the kids being in the same room, let alone working together, and while one can believe they might not see through Ivory, it’s still not a great idea. What is a great idea emerges right at the end when the story distils to two characters. That should have been the starting point, with anything necessary leading to how they met told later in flashback. There are still too many unnecessary characters clogging up the works, and that’s possibly why no continuation ever manifested.