Review by Ian Keogh

Richard Morse is a lawyer sent to investigate rumours of murky experimentation at a biochemical laboratory. Not only are the rumours true, but to keep that truth from being exposed the head scientist is willing to kill Morse via injecting him with an experimental compound. The unexpected result is the emergence of an immensely strong humanoid creature possessing Morse’s intelligence and desperate to be changed back to his human form.

Aaron Lopresti tells his story in eight page chapters, and they’re immaculately drawn, atmospheric, dynamic and dripping technique whether spotlighting Morse’s previous life as a ordinary person or his troubled new form and the horrors he encounters. Lopresti has always been a very good and under-rated artist, and Garbage Man might be a career peak. Each chapter has Morse learning a little more about what he’s become and remembering a little more about who he was while encountering much strangeness in the backwoods.

Lopresti wears his influences on his sleeve, but they’re homages rather than steals and combined into something new. So we have a George Romero sequence, a Man-Thing guest appearance, story titles incorporated into the art as Will Eisner did, and a Murnau City is featured. There are others to discover. There’s a reason Morse was called Garbage Man before his transformation, and it fits his new identity, so he claims the name, and Lopresti takes him on a satisfying journey. A new focus every ten pages keeps things fresh, and the ideas keep coming.

Downsides? Despite being minimal, the inclusion of a few superheroes strikes as not really necessary when Morse is more than capable of hogging the spotlight and sorting things out. Other than that Garbage Man is really, really good.