Lion Forge/Catalyst Prime 2017
Written by Brandon Thomas
Penciled by Roger Robinson & Jamal Igle
Inked by Roger Robinson & Robin Riggs
Coloured by Sotocolor & Juan Fernandez
Lettered by Saida Temofonte
How did astronaut David Powell survive the fatal mission that saved the world from an approaching asteroid? Where did he get his telekinetic powers? Why is he being hunted down by the Foresight Corporation and its CEO, Lorena Payan? All questions are answered as David is finally reunited with his wife, Astrid, but with terrible consequences. The secret of the suicide mission that gave birth to the Catalyst Prime universe is revealed!
I’m a huge fan of Brandon has done and continues to do here. For all of you crying out for more diversity in comics you should darn well be supporting this book right here. What these guys have done is what should be done create new characters, flesh them out with strong storylines and characterisation and make them into the next big thing through the quality of work.
David has no idea who he is, of his past or the life with his wife and child. His head, see brain, has been messed with to the point where he’s pretty much an absolute wreck. So what drew him back to Lorena, whe who is the cause of all his woes? It’s all right here, well pretty much all of it and what's not here is alluded to and left for us to dwell on until the time comes along to reveal it. Brandon’s storytelling ability is strong, solid and captures the essence of these characters so that we will want to return time and again.
I like the interior pages here. There really is a strong comic book style going on in these pages. It has the right amount of attention to detail and use of angles and perspective in the page layouts that make this as much a joy to read. As someone who believes that backgrounds are integral to storytelling it makes me incredibly happy to see them used as they are here.
There’s some great storytelling happening on these pages. The way characters are seen and how they are manipulated into doing things that are expected of them is incredibly well done. Lorena’s a master manipulator and we are seeing that but then at the same time it seems to be setting her up for a great fall. That there are different factions at play here from Lorena and her people to DeMarcus and his people to David and his wife all of whom we are getting great looks at make the dynamic of the series what it is.
Also while we know there was an Event that changed the world we finally get to see something of it from David’s perspective. How it changed him and made into super powered being. Though the specifics aren’t there and what is revealed well it’s highly suspect considering the banter and the sources only further fuels the imagination and desire to know more.
This is how you create new characters from scratch and build a universe through storytelling and artwork that has that kind of representation across the board that we people scream for these days. This is an exciting new venture that shows the future of super heroes books is stronger than ever!