Lion Forge Comics 2017
Written by Amy Chu
Illustrated by Jan Duursema
Coloured by Paul Mounts
Lettered by AW’s Deron Bennett
Dr. Valentina Resnick-Baker helped save the world from annihilation and gained cosmic powers because of it. She tried to hold the power in check and failed. Now, Val's testing the limits of the plasma energy her body harnesses, but the clock starts ticking when Val finds out a young friend of hers is in danger, and the path to becoming the hero called Summit takes a sharp turn.
I have to say I like how Lion Forge keeps expanding their line of Catalyst Prime books and as a result expanding their universe. Now we all know it’s only fair to give a series three to six issues to make an impression on you but really I am so in already the ladies here have wowed me beyond belief and Jan’s work on the opening page had my jaw on the floor.
The way that Amy is structuring this story is extremely well done and I like the way we see a little bit of her past that allows to understand her just that much more before getting the present. Also this kind of gives us another look at the Event and how Valentina sees it and feels the effects of it to this day. Survivor’s guilt runs deep within her, though how she doesn’t know that, I think, all of them are still alive is a cruel thing. Lorena for example has hidden too much from her and still does and I have to wonder what she’s going to do when she finds out. Heh I don’t think even Lorena is a match for Valentina when she’s pissed off. Either way the characterisation and story development throughout the issue is superbly orchestrated.
So we get to meet J.B. this issue and he’s Val’s ex-husband, before she realised she was a lesbian and found herself a wife. Why are we meeting him well it’s a funeral for folks that they know, which ironically also ties into the opening and while I feel that’s pretty damn fast for a funeral when their plane only crashed a day ago. Still it is another opportunity for Amy to explore Val’s psyche and for us to get a chance to know J.B. better. The dialogue and the familiarity of the characters makes this a lot of fun to read.
Jan’s work on the interiors here throughout is amazing stuff. Her attention to detail is almost unrivalled in the world of comics today. Not only in the characters, the clothing and how we see the details in them (hair, shirts, fingernails) but the detail and time spent on backgrounds and subtle things like making sure things in those backgrounds match up. She really is one of the most underrated famous artists around. The way she uses page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective utilised in the panels showcase such a wonderful eye for storytelling.
Let me hand it to Amy here because as the issue unfolds and we see more and more of what’s happening it seems like she’s building up her supporting cast and already showcasing how that’s going to help Val. Plus the reveal that we get this issue is the one we’ve been waiting for so now if you want to know what she can do, well not the extent of what she can do but what her powers are based upon read the issue cause I'm not telling you.
There has to be more to her abilities than we are learning about through experimentation. After all her emotions seem to trigger some affects and we see that as well here. This and the Peruvian Jungle are tied together and however that works I think Val keeping quiet about it will interesting to see, at least from my perspective and until it gets her in trouble.
Fresh, solid and with some spot on writing with the master class interior artwork this is why Lion Forge is surging with their superhero line.