Writer: Ruth Osgood
Artist: J.R. Turvey
Dicepool Party Comics, September 2026
The Scope is an indie comic book written and created by Ruth Osgood, with artwork provided by Bristol-based J.R. Turvey. This first issue is titled Newb’s Awakening. It serves as an intriguing opening chapter that combines classic hard-boiled crime elements with an amnesiac mystery, following the traditions of The Bourne Identity and Christopher Nolan’s motion picture Memento.
The story begins with an unnamed protagonist waking up battered in a rain-slicked alley after being brutally assaulted. They have no idea who they are or what happened to them. It becomes clear that they are suffering from a serious head injury and concussion. It is a straightforward setup: the reader is thrown into the mystery alongside the protagonist, with neither having any idea what is going on.
The stranger is eventually rescued by two eccentric individuals named Jude and Decker, who bring them to an underground safehouse known as POM, or Peace of Mind. Once inside the heavily fortified facility, the extent of the protagonist’s memory loss becomes apparent. They cannot even remember their own name. Jude and Decker provide a tour of the facility, including “B,” a heavily armored vehicle designed to protect them from whatever threats exist outside.
From there, Ms Osgood gradually expands the world surrounding these characters. The group seeks medical attention from Scraps, an underground doctor and mechanic who operates out of a shop called The Art of Wear. The story then moves to The Furnace, a local establishment where the characters can grab some food and drinks while the reader gets a better look at the strange community they inhabit.
The Furnace is also where The Scope starts explaining how its underworld operates. Dolly, the bartender, introduces the color-coded system of “Asks,” which essentially functions as a job board for the local criminal economy. The assignments range from yellow recovery jobs to green murder contracts. It is an unusual bit of world-building that gives the setting some personality while also establishing how these characters make their living.
Of course, Jude and Decker have another problem: they owe Dolly nearly two thousand pounds in soup.
That currency, “soup”, is a particular detail which keeps the story from becoming too grim. There is a strange sense of normalcy to the way the characters discuss their financial problems despite living in what appears to be a heavily armed underground criminal society. When Dolly cuts Jude off and the group’s cupboards are running empty, the solution becomes fairly obvious. They need a job.
A boastful thug named Greg provides another glimpse into this world when he brags about completing a violent “pink” job, further establishing that the Asks are not exactly the sort of employment opportunities you would find on a conventional job website. By the end of the issue, the group is already eyeing their next assignment, giving the story a clear direction for future installments while leaving the central mystery surrounding the protagonist unresolved.
Mr Turvey’s skewed artwork is intriguing. The perspective is deliberately misaligned. Some panels are sufficiently murky that it can be difficult to immediately determine what is happening, particularly during the more action-oriented sequences. The character models are unpolished. This is Mr Turvey’s eclectic style – see https://dicepoolparty.com/about-dicepool-party The artwork does not come across as simply unfinished. Examples of precise line work and deliberate color choices suggest that Mr Turvey is intentionally pursuing a gritty, low-fi aesthetic. The roughness gives The Scope an underground quality that fits the setting, even if it occasionally comes at the expense of clarity.
Newb’s Awakening establishes a world that feels considerably larger than the immediate mystery. The amnesiac protagonist provides the obvious hook, but the strange collection of characters, the fortified safehouse and the color-coded criminal economy give the story plenty of material to build upon.
There is still a lot that The Scope has yet to explain. The protagonist’s identity and the circumstances surrounding the assault remain unanswered, while Jude, Decker and the rest of their unusual community clearly have their own stories to tell. For now, the book has established enough questions, characters and potential trouble to make seeing where the next “Ask” takes them an interesting proposition.
This title is due to be launched on 19 September 2026 at Hi-Vis Comic Con in Birmingham, United Kingdom – see https://highviscomic-con.com/ .