Wunderman Comics 2012
Created & Written by Nate Wunderman
Penciled by Ron Fontes
Inked by Neal Yamamoto
Coloured by Dan Murray
One of the perks of being a reviewer is that people contact you and ask you to check out their work. Now not everything is great or polished but sometimes when you look at something you see such potential in the concept and execution you want to tell people about it and then watch those creators grow and become better at what they are doing. I’m not going to ruin anything by telling you that this particular invasion of Earth is done by bug creatures that developed into sentient beings in another part of the galaxy and have come to Earth. Not the first time we’ve seen the premise and yes I loved Starship Troopers but here it also preys upon the mind as the idea of it freaks you out that bugs can be deadly, sentient and utterly dangerous.
I like that it starts off with the invasion itself seen in places you wouldn’t normally consider, India and Viet Nam. Then suddenly it’s a year later and this scene seems a little choppy to me as we see an overweight guy pushing a cart along and the exchange doesn’t do much other than call into question how he can be so overweight during a war like this. An hour after that he’s seen with his pants around his ankles being held aloft by a bug in armour and while I enjoyed seeing his fat hairy ass with a giant pimple on it I thought it was weird and without any cause for that to be the way it was.
It is however a nice way to see Nate, a little this is me as a character?, in action as he fights the bug and kills it. Letting us know he’s a main character in this story along with his dog Chopper. The news reports we see from there is nice as it doesn’t explain anything about why the bugs are here just that the world is comning together under one leadership to combat the invasion on a unified front. A single world government is a nice result and it will lead to some interesting developments down the road.
That we see a ragtag group of individuals brought together for various, as of yet unknown, reasons forming a militia style unit in the Los Angeles area being somewhat organized and effective in their fight against the aliens is a good start. That they see one species they’ve seen before and decide to capture that one and they way that plays out is very well done. It’s here we really start seeing Nate’s writing start to come together in a stronger way. The story definitely becomes more cohesive and easy to follow and makes sense from here on out.
Nate being chosen to tag along as this new bug species is taken for interrogation was a nice touch and firmly plants him into things as possibly the hero of the book. The characterization we start getting from the battle through the interrogation is strong and helps us get a better feel for who these characters are. Most importantly however is when the captured alien known as Grzzt a Kazoop begins to the story of his people. Again Nate comes out ahead here with a fascinating look at the rise and spread of a species who have outgrown their native planet and have the need to keep growing.
The rest of the issue plays out in a way you won’t expect it to but will happy to witness. It’s interesting, creative and definitely gives off the whole vibe of the resistance that the mini-series V first gave us. While it has a rocky start by the end of the issue Nate finds his voice and is able to keep the story moving along smoothly.
The interior artwork is strong and interesting and once we get a look at Grzzt and his the visuals of the story he tells Ron, Neal and Dan’s imagination and skills shine on the page.
Overall it’s a good first issue and leaves you with that sense of wanting to see more and how this all started and how it’s going to end, if it does. Definitely worthy of heading over to comixology to check it out for yourself.