Aftershock Comics 2016
Created & Written by Mark Waid & Tom Peyer
Penciled by Brent Peeples
Inked by Eric Gapstur
Coloured by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Lettered by A Larger World
Chris is back in his own time and on his own. He’s got his hands full too as there’s a full on assault on his hometown. He’s made himself known and tried to interfere with someone’s plans so now he has to deal with all that, alone.
I really like this and it just keeps getting better and better. Without Helea around Chris has to figure out how to be Captain Kid on his own and that’s no easy task. However that’s how it should be, not with someone holding your hand and guiding but going out doing it and right or wrong learn. There’s more excitement for me personally to see him learning on the fly and making mistakes along the way. It makes him more relatable to and likeable in my humble opinion.
I like the direction that the we see the villains taking as well. While it’s no secret who is behind all this that his motivations are being revealed slowly is nice to see. Creating havoc for kickbacks is the definition of greed and it’s so much fun to see him so unapologetic about his motives when talking to Julia. Somehow it makes him that much more scary and formidable and enigmatic at the same time. Also what’s his connection to Captain Kid and why is he focusing his efforts on him? It can’t just be to eliminate him from the picture because he dared interfere with his operations can it or is there something more behind his thinking? I’d like to think he thinks of himself as a genius mastermind and that this diversion with Captain Kid is just something for him to prove how smart and powerful he is.
I’m a big fan of the interiors here. The use of page layouts with their angles, perspective and use of backgrounds do great things in fleshing out the story as it’s happening. The classic comic book feel that they bring to the series brings back an almost nostalgic feel of those old comics that I used to read that got me hooked to begin with. The attention to detail here is nice to see and really helps define what we see and what’s happening.
The events of this issue are fraught with both heroics and mistakes and that is great to see. The ongoing characterisation as Chris tries to battle these unnatural disasters and check on his family and friends. It’s also such a great way to bring us these moments that set the stage for what else is to come. From seeing his father and knowing that he remembers Chris dreamed him up all those years ago to Teddy being an informant at the Red Nose Bar all conspire to set up some interesting aspects of what’s to come.
This is a great throwback series that takes the best of what we grew up loving and blends it with everything that is now in comics. It hits all the right notes to be one of the most fun and interesting series out there right now.