From Boom Studios, Grace Randolph, Russell Dauterman, Gabriel Cassata.
Hey this comic came out just last week and I’m reading it! I consider this to be a win.
I don’t even know where to start telling non readers about this comic. My wife and I love smart television shows. Doctor Who, BSG, and so on. Shows with huge overall stories and massive casts. Heroes failed. No Ordinary Family was a joke. Here, world of television executives, here is the super hero TV show that will enrapture every demographic for many years.
Oh sure there will be challenges. A huge one being, how on Earth could a casting director find actors good enough to pull off Russell’s facial expressions? Silent panels don’t necessarily translate into silent moments on screen. These actors would have to let a moment land and the audience must let it land with all the emotional impact.
Secondly a show runner would have to love these characters as much as Grace. Every character gets his or her moment. It is never once just about the men, or about the young, or about the white characters. All of it in a completely natural way.
In this issue alone there is a battle with a monster in which a child gets his first taste of blood along the path to becoming a man. A god loses all control and takes out his aggression in the only way he knows how. The secret lives of both good and evil are revealed. Finally one of the series longest stories takes a dramatic turn which will leave readers wishing this comic was weekly.
I cant reveal too much because this comic has so much packed into it that I run the risk of ruining things for new readers. I do think I’ll try to pull random quotes or panels to let you all know how good the comic is, and maybe entice you to read the whole story.
First off, look at this bottom panel. The “family portrait”.
There is a reason for every single pose in that picture. We’ve all read lots of comics. There are so many characters who stand the same, who in silhouette would look the same. Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man and Mr Fantastic should all have their own unique body types and poses. Yet so many artists just have “male body” and “female body” and don’t try for anything else. Then there is this portrait. Pride, love, family. Who is looking at the camera and who is looking at a person. Just look at Batu! Absolutely refusing to pick up her daughter Sara because women should be strong and not have needs like being picked up. Its little touches like this that make me love every character as if I’ve read them for 20 years.
I have two lines that I loved in this issue and neither are related to the big beats within. ”I do not need it anymore.” Wow. I usually hate the “when Superman gets angry” plot device done with the Man of Steel or any other variation on the character. However this line foreshadows so much. Sovereign is going to need less and less and distance himself more and more. These pages will come back over many issues as the inevitable Sovereign story line is unleashed.
Next and finally, “Is he naked?!” Oh Sara. You are such a teenage girl and such a conduit of evil. Any one else would be in awe over the wake of destruction before them. However Sara has a bit more on her mind. Is there more of Helen within her than the readers know so far?
I can only hope this has made some of you curious enough to pick up the comic. No gimmicks, no constant creator changes. Just well done comics that deliver great story and art every month. Cant wait for issue 11 Grace and Russell!
