Aftershock Comics 2016
Created & Written by Mark Waid & Tom Peyer
Illustrated by Wilfredo Torres
Coloured by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Lettered by A Larger World
Attacked from the future! At odds with his mentor! Abducted through time! In the chaos of his centuries-long birthday, Captain Kid unearths the dangerous secret of his origin!
Alright this is one of those series where Mark and Tom have completely thrown any previous Time Travel rules out the window. We’ve seen that since two Helea’s have shown up and are interacting with one another though to be honest I do like that their ideologies are completely different from one another at this stage of their lives. Though let’s be honest it’s about time rules were thrown out and storytelling like this took place I mean c’mon let em act like they do and see what happens!
So the younger Helea takes Chris back in time and shows him how his life got to where it was, though not why she thought they were in the 80’s when they were saving that bridge. I like that Wilfredo shows us how closely they are to each other in age here with a few differences, like the hair styles. That we see Chris having a hard time looking and reliving his younger days has a lot of resonation within me. How many of us during our teen years had ideal lives lived without mistakes we’d rather not witness again? Okay so his were a tad different but most origin stories come from a place of pain don’t they?
I do like what Wilfredo does with this series and his eye for storytelling through angles, perspective and page layouts are incredibly well done. He and Kelly really bring this great feel and tone to the book that remind me of the silly serious books of the past that have great storytelling capability.
I like what the guys are doing here the characterisation and the way we see Helea take Chris on this journey so he can understand more about himself and his life and this new role he finds himself in is extremely well done. From being a teenager who dreamed up his persona long before it became a reality and how quickly he took to it once it happened it’s well structured. While his ongoing characterisation won’t stop it is nice to see his “origin” happen in one issue. There’s no real reason to drag it out, make it longer than necessary and it’s really just a springboard for what’s to come.
With remnants of the past playing important roles and bright open future it’ll be interesting to see where they take this next. Can Chris as Captain Kid make a difference in the world while keeping his new identity a secret? That’ll something to see though I have a feeling that will be more of an ongoing thing. In the meantime it’s fantastic to have this serious yet absolutely fun almost retro book in stands.
It’s time to once again have fun reading comics and this creative team has that well under control.