Scout Comics 2016
Created & Written by A.C. Medina
Illustrated by Kevin Shah
Coloured by Ross A. Campbell
Lettered by Micah Myers
Last issue we left with Mikey having been drowned in the chemical mixture in the warehouse as his friend and gang were killed. He then went into a blind rage and his newly acquired powers activated and he brought the entire building down. Now it’s time for the Elasticator’s origin to keep unfolding.
I have to say that A.C. is really doing a great job in telling this story. We open up this issue with a decidedly different look than what we’ve seen. Along with Kevin and Ross they manage to make this dream/nightmare sequence incredibly good. I mean at first I was lost and couldn’t remember how we left off and that is a great thing since it’s so new and fresh. Then we see Mikey recovering from what happened and suddenly things fall back into place. Yeah this is how you keep your readers on their toes.
Mikey’s mom is distraught over the disappearance of her son. Last we saw his dad and he had fought and he left leaving her not knowing where he was going on what was going on with him. However even with her circumstances there really is nothing like a mother’s love and we see that here. I found it even better than when reporting her son as missing at the local station who should she run into other than Melina Mazzagatti it really is a small world they live in. Still this was great and a mother believes in her son and knows he’s alive well it’s kind of nice even if his dad is who he is.
Ah then there’s more to see with Luther. This is one scary ass man they’ve created and in the vein of Kingpin in his cool, calm and incredibly threatening demeanor he has a commanding presence about him that inspires fear and cooperation. This characterization blew me away and the lettering was instrumental in that as we see the two sides well talking to one another is what we’ll go with. It kind of gave me the chills to see this play out.
With the rest of the dedicated to the man who saved him and training to become the Elasticator we get a really good look at Mikey. Poor kid’s been used and lead around all his life and now that he’s got these powers it doesn’t look like he’s ready to come into his own and become his own man just yet. Maybe he will by the time the run ends but for now he’s very mallable to those around him.
Kevin and Ross make one heck of a team. The way the story flows through it’s pages and panels is great to see. The use of backgrounds could be better utilized but when we see them they are nicely done with images that fill in more about the story peripherally. Seeing the use of Mikey and his powers is also nice as they give us more than you think with just stretching powers we’ve seen in the past.
A dark, urban, gritty and real look at a kid on the edge and not knowing where to go and what to do. This is how a teenager in this situation would behave and maybe learn more about himself and who he wants to be along the way. After finishing this issue you’ll know what excitement feels like in comics again!