Valiant Entertainment 2017
On Sale June 28th 2017
Written by Eric Heisserer
Illustrated by Raul Allen & Patricia Martin
The government has dispatched Amanda McKee – the technopath codenamed Livewire – to investigate the ruins of a secret facility formerly run by Toyo Harada, the most powerful telepath on Earth and her former mentor. In his quest for world betterment at any cost, Harada sought out and activated many potential psiots like himself. Those who survived, but whose powers he deemed to have no value to his cause, were hidden away at this installation. But Livewire, having studied Harada’s greatest strengths and learned his deepest weaknesses, senses opportunity where he once saw failure. A young girl who can talk to birds… A boy who can make inanimate objects gently glow… To others, these are expensive disappointments. But, to Livewire, they are secret weapons…in need of a leader. Now, as a mechanized killer called Rex-O seeks to draw them out, Livewire and her new team of cadets will be forced to put their powers into action…in ways they never could have imagined…
I am all about this series! I know it doesn’t come out for awhile and this is a very advance review but let me tell ya you are going to want this one! What manages to do with this issue is bring us a book that we’ve been missing. Pure and simple it’s got the edge of the Legion of Super-Heroes in that folks with powers working together can be so much more than their individual selves mixed with the family ties that made the New Teen Titans such a smashing success. So bring on the characters who are Harada’s rejects and let’s see what they can do given the chance to shine in the sunlight! Even better is that they all stayed with one another at the Willow’s so they’ve got that family connection already, bonded as throwaways from Harada and his mad plans.
Then there’s Raul ad Patricia who together make this a sleek and stylised book. It has this retro vibe of old science fiction horror in parts, which is so incredibly apropos, that excite the mind and the senses. The way they bring these characters to life so we see how their powers work is wonderful to see. The attention to detail throughout whether it’s a human, animal or other including what we see in the utilisation of backgrounds is stunning!
This issue has everything a first issue introduction to a series that you could possibly hope for or want. There’s the whole catalyst with Harada, the leak and subsequent actions because of those. There’s even some sort of redemption angle and one where kids have to find a way to survive and discover sometimes alone isn’t the answer. There’s breaking out of their shell and proving to us that those who discarded them were of limited vision. Plus the characterisation, dialogue, pacing and story development here make you an instant fan.
Sure Livewire has been around a bit but we’ve never seen her like this and if she leaves Unity for these kids i’m all for it. This is her chance to grow and become something else other than the weapon she was always intended to be. To find that nurturing, caring side of her that has lain dormant for far too long.
I am firmly in love with what this is book is about already. It’s the past, present and future all rolled up into one series and that makes me a happy camper.