Valiant Entertainment 2017
Written by Eric Heisserer
Illustrated by Raul Allen & Patricia Martin
Lettered by Patricia Martin
Psiots are individuals with extraordinary abilities of the mind.. However, their powers remain latent unless activated, and if they survive the activation process, there’s no guarantee that their new skills will prove useful. That’s where The Willows came in; it served as a place where Toyo Harada could send his expensive failures like Nikki, Owen, and their other friends. But after Harada’s Harbinger Foundation was exposed, the residents of The Willows were no longer safe. Now they’re being hunted by a psiot-hungry predator named Rex-O, and must rely on the guidance of Amanda McKee, aka Livewire. This team of super rejects will have to harness their lackluster abilities in order to survive…
I’ve been waiting for issue two to come out! I did an advance review of issue one and it feels like forever since I did that. What Eric is doing here is a dream come true and is highly reminiscent of what the Legion is all about, okay maybe the Subs. Take a group of people with powers that don’t have much practical application throw them together make them a team that learns how to use their powers and rely upon each other to get the job done and become something of a family in the process. Yes indeed that’s what we’re getting here and honestly it’s never been done better.
Then there’s what Raul and Patricia are doing with the interiors. I love the attention to detail that we see here. The linework is beautifully done and the expressions we see on the faces of the characters are sublime. The way page layouts are utilised through the angles, perspective and use of backgrounds is superbly done. The flow of what we see is great and feels natural. Also kudos to Patricia for those colours with Livewire using her power because that purple rocks!
The pacing that Eric brings to this is pretty darn impressive. I like the way things are unfolding for us and that Nikki is as much a part of what’s going on as Amanda. I mean for all her ability with computers and the “Dark Web” it’s Nikki who’s finding the clues and the people responsible for what’s going on. I also really like the characterisation here. Avichal for instance is one whose power doesn’t match up well, see Stone Boy, and he wants to live a normal life and is willing to leave the group’s safety to please his family.
While the mystery of Rex-O and his creator are being revealed slowly but surely we are being introduced to the Valiant Universe’s newest team of misfit heroes. This is the epitome of what teamwork is about and how the whole is greater than it’s parts and that works. This makes me happy to be a comic book fan in every sense of the word.