I don't know why I didn't find it at the comic store Wednesday, but I found it yesterday at a different location of the same chain. A More local one at that.
I gotta say, I'm probably the only one really liking this guy's style. But I do agree the coloring is pretty dark the first couple of pages. I think that's also due to the unfortunate translation of the ink to the paper (which was a respectable economic movie to keep it at the 3 dollar range)... because it looked a LOT darker in person.
I have to say, the artwork here (and I said this on Prawncracker's Blog) looks the most like an actual comic book. Amy, Shelli and Dave's work looked like animated cartoons (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course) and Rodger's is definitely a Comix style. But there's just something about James's style that gives it a hint of Marvel...Plus, I think he REALLY got Pepe down great, and I love how he draws the Electric Mayhem.