Image Comics/Shadowline Productions 2015
Created, Written & Lettered by Ed Brisson
Created & Illustrated by Brian Level
Coloured by Jordan Boyd
First thing I noticed was the interior artwork it’s just the way I like it, highly detailed great use of backgrounds and page layouts then there’s just the whole vibe it gives off. This does what artwork should do, grab your attention, keep it and make you want to read what the story is all about.
Meet Jen and Robbie who leave a club because the band sucks and they are walking to see if Lee’s holding. Robbie apparently just did mushrooms and wants some weed to go with it, ah the life of the young. Thanks to his current altered state Robbie can see that the lightning around them is acting strange like it’s drifting towards them and it’s kind of rainbow coloured. Jen thinks this is a result of the mushrooms and tripping his balls off. Then the lighting envelops Robbie and we see several heroes going from fighting to dying sometimes violently.
The set up is pretty much worth it for what comes next. After Jen brought him home to sleep off the seizure or whatever happened to him in that alley and he passed out three people showed up. These folks don’t pull no punches either and the dialogue is kind of excellent when threatens with her description of how his trachea will be removed oh yeah. Well after much posturing by everyone present we see some powers at work and learn who these three mysterious strangers are. Interesting power sets i’ll say they don’t sound earth shattering maybe Kabrah with that kind of strength and brains to match.
She too muscular for me and has this ring of Timber Wolf or that Imperial Guard member look to her a lot I dunno it’s weird to me for some reason perhaps that’s the result of her powers but wow okay. Once things settle down and Robbie begins a crash course training session in the use of these powers more pleasant personalities emerge. Until of course the Mantle is brought up and we learn it’s history and that he’s the thirty-Eighth host in the past decade so this Plague character keeps killing the Mantle so that the power must find a new host repeatedly and this way no one manages to get good enough to defeat him. Interesting take on it from my point of view.
Oh yeah and with all this happening get ready to meet the Plague! Well there’s nothing like a brand spanking new Mantle completely untested going after his arch nemesis who's managed to kill countless of the Mantle’s previous hosts. Robbie shows us he has the gumption and mettle for being a super-hero.
Okay so there are so many incredible OMG and WTF moments here that really set this apart in terms of just brutal honesty as to what the downside of being a new hero is and that it’s not the life we all think it could be. Yeah you won’t see much of this coming and you’ll darn well enjoy every moment of this. Ed’s become one heck of a good storyteller and the interiors are pretty darn bad ass too this is the one to watch for this year. Keep yours eyes on these guys this is the future.