This week’s main review is Revolution 9 #1, which marks the start of an ambitious new project from Mad Cave Studios. Plus, the Wednesday Comics Team has its usual rundown of the new #1s, finales and other notable issues from non-Big 2 publishers, all of which you can find below … enjoy!
Revolution 9 #1
Writer: Mark London
Art: Carlos Reno
Colors: Jão Canola
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review by Clyde Hall
The launch of miniseries Revolution 9 is a twofer beginning chapter, an opening act for what reads as a great Crime/Conspiracy tale as well as the start of the Underworld Universe. And the story herein is stand-alone, as will be each limited series leading up to a 2025 crossover event for all of them entitled, ‘Endless Night’.
If each miniseries contains as much potential and drive as Revolution 9 #1, it’s going to be a project to watch. We’ve seen stories of secret cabals bent on world domination but then opposed by their former agents before. We’ve read stories of zealot orders and secret brotherhoods/sisterhoods founded in ancient civilizations and still working their will into the modern world.
But seldom are those story foundations established with such clarity and minimalist style. Every panel and every word is directly applied to furthering the plot or illuminating the personal qualities of the protagonists, often through fast-paced action scenes. The balance between exposition and explosive outburst is strong.
The Order of Nine is a secret society that has existed since the last king of Rome was overthrown and the Roman Republic established, circa 500 BC. At that time, nine seers called the Unknown Prophets set down scrolls regarding the world they foresaw developing over 3,000 years, and how it could be returned to a global monarchy using insights provided by these soothsayers. This is to be accomplished mainly through assassination of those deemed in the way of the Order’s eventual destiny.
One such modern operative is Agent Velveteen, who’s assigned a termination sanction on a hacker who’s cracked the Order’s encoded files in Rome and downloaded their contents. It’s a thorough history of the organization, what it’s done in the past, and the kill orders it’s issued in shepherding its future goals.
Rather than kill hacker Jasper Dean and delete his files, Vee collects both this data and the technophile for a new mission of her own design. Her handlers, including division leader Volta and his subordinate Thorn, messed up when they ordered her to kill someone Vee cared about. Now she has full access to the Order’s termination directives and plans. With the help of selected associates, she’ll wage a one-woman war against their one-monarch world order.
The opening story illustrates Agent Velveteen as a calculating, careful operative with hypervigilance as a near superpower. Once unswervingly loyal to the Order which raised her, she eventually understood their true nature and waited for a chance to sabotage their centuries-long game of revolution.
Writer Mark London also makes it clear she’ll have to practice better people skills dealing with those not sharing her operational expertise yet holding keys to her success. Somewhere along the way you know her lists of expendable assets and comrades-in-arms will blur.
High marks to London for his foundation work regarding the Order of Nine. Its misty beginnings in pre-Caesar Rome, a period when the King and Senate ruled, is a less well known era rich for exploration. Exclusion of connections to overused secret orders like the Knights Templar is also a plus.
Artist Carlos Reno and colorist Jão Canola provide action sequences establishing Vee as a logistical force of nature. Their clean, clear style together is in direct harmony with the upfront and unwavering presentation of narrative, be it as exposition, action, or flashback sequences.
Add in how closely Vee safeguards details of the plans she’s now set into motion, the allies she’s arranged within its progression, and readers have a series launch delivering a fresher-than-expected ascent on well-traveled storytelling terrain.
The Horizon Experiment – The Manchurian #1
Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote
Artist: Terry Dodson
Colorist: Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and John Ercek
Letterer: Jeff Powell
Publisher: Image Comics
Review by Jared Bird
The Horizon Experiment made headlines earlier this year with its bold premise – a publishing initiative of five one-shots, all intended to potentially become ongoing series if successful, with each featuring protagonists from marginalized backgrounds and riffing on tropes inspired by pop culture icons. Led by writer Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian), with a number of superstar comic professionals partaking in every issue, The Horizon Experiment is a bold plan. In the first of these one-shots, The Manchurian #1, Pichetshote and legendary artist Terry Dodson imagine what a James Bond-like superspy would be like if he had a Chinese background instead of a British one.
Our main protagonist, Calvin Low, effectively operates as part fixer, part guardian angel for Chinese spies. The issue goes heavily into detail on the differences between American and Chinese spycraft, and you can tell that Pichetshote has done extensive research into the subject. It makes it feel incredibly unique and very modern, presenting the reader with a different take on a spy story than they may be used to. A lot of the regular, Bond-inspired spy fiction tropes are still present, such as our protagonist’s womanizing tendencies and shadowy villainous organizations. It also presents interesting new elements, with a heavy focus on corporate espionage that makes the book feel well and truly modern and new. The concept of agents working to protect dozens if not hundreds of spies is such a unique concept, and Pichetshote lays it out incredibly well in this first issue.
Pichetshote’s writing is fantastic. There is a reason he has quickly shot up to be one of the most respected writers in the business, because he has a knack for balancing out information heavy, dense stories with smart, effective writing that never feels overbearing or excessive. He gets across the personalities of our key cast in one issue alone, and even though there’s a lot going on, it never feels as if it’s too much. Instead, it just plants mysteries that leave you wanting more and more. Pichetshote’s background as an editor serves him well, as this is a comic that feels perfectly balanced from a writing standpoint.
Terry Dodson is a comic book legend and for good reason. His artwork is slick, sexy and smooth. He draws action sequences really well, but particularly thrives in moments of dialogue between characters, where he can really hone in and emphasize the storytelling of the comic. It’s a perfect fit for a comic like this really, and it gives the whole comic a stylish and cool energy that compliments it wonderfully. I’m glad he got aboard a project like this, and as always the color work by Terry, Rachel Dodson and John Ercek is superb.
Overall, The Manchurian #1 gives readers a taste of what spy stories could be. It breathes life into something readers might’ve thought they’ve seen a thousand times, and it proves that The Horizon Experiment’s premise of fleshing out characters in relation to a specific background opens up ripe dramatic territory more than worth exploring. This issue is a total knockout, and I cannot help but want for more, because it’s the exact thing I’ve been craving in a spy comic for years.
Wednesday Comics Reviews
- Creepshow Vol. 3 #1 (Image – Skybound): James Stokoe has a short story in this issue. Any other opinion regarding the other story in the issue (which was perfectly fine, if needing another draft to better set up the ending twist) is irrelevant in the face of this fact. –Sean Dillon
- Maria Llovet’s Violent Flowers #1 (Image Comics): Challenging stories are a blessing and a curse; they can draw in curious observers, unravel under the keen eye of puzzle solvers, or even isolate loyal fans. Stories can challenge readers narratively with dialogue, visually with sequential juxtaposition, aesthetically with layered symbolism and ritual, and critically with deeply affecting emotional content. Maria Llovet’s newest miniseries challenges readers to stay hooked with an intentionally obtuse pilot chapter that requires context, but gives none. With emotional investment relying solely on whether or not you are attracted to the aesthetic appeal of Llovet’s vampire fantasy, what’s left to consider is plot and worldbuilding. We follow a bitter counter-culture vampire named Carnelia that comes for a found family funeral, but seethes at the political shifting. This amount of plot-twisting would be more effective deep into an established series where stakes have risen, relationships have started, stopped, reformed, etc…though as a first issue, Violent Flowers pushes readers into the water, asks them to drown, but not to swim. Llovet keeps the layouts to widescreen panels with an average of 4-5 a page and only chopping a widescreen panel into repeated shots should she require more to illustrate a point. This formalist approach helps heighten the tools we as readers can use to ascertain author intent when understanding plot and character feels unattainable. If uniform lineart, esoteric lore-centric narrative, and vampire fucking is up your alley, [and I know it is if you’re reading this], then have a blast, because for me this just sucks. —Beau Q.
- Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers/Usagi Yojimbo #1 (BOOM! Studios/Dark Horse): In what is sure to be the unlikeliest crossover of the year, Stan Sakai’s indie comic icon Usagi Yojimbo collides this week with the ultimate merchandising machine, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This standalone story is from Power Rangers stalwart writer Ryan Parrot (longtime scribe of Boom’s Power Rangers series), artist Shawn Daley, colorist James Fenner, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. Taurin Clarke, one of the best cover artists in the game, rounds out this well designed package. From the very first page, this is very much a Power Rangers comic featuring Usagi, opening with the kind of narration caption boxes that Stan Sakai’s comics rarely utilize. Even then, this is much more Power Rangers the kids show as opposed to Parrot’s more adult oriented action series. That’s no knock, this is the type of story you could hand your kid to introduce them to both Usagi Yojimbo and Power Rangers. The plot here is straight forward and familiar but peppered with fun dialogue and banter. Parrot even squeezes a nice arc for Jason the Red Ranger. Usagi is primarily an accessory to that, but his calm and even keeled experience gives the character a stoic wisdom that plays well against the teen heroes. He even learns a lesson himself. The art, character designs, and bright colors are clearly manga and anime inspired and their simple, expressive forms adds to the kid friendly aesthetic. The simplified characters and Daley’s use of foreshortening and distortion gives the action a terrific sense of motion. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Usagi Yojimbo might not break any new ground but it is a fun romp through Japan with that would make a fine introduction to indie comics for young readers. –Tim Rooney
- Survival Street The Radical Left #1 (Dark Horse Comics): Survival Street is some solid satire that unfortunately never feels too far off, even with our protagonists being puppet freedom fighters. While an obvious riff on Sesame Street, what I appreciate is that the team knows the audience and also that it isn’t Sesame Street. Too often we want our favorite characters to grow up with us, when new characters, even homage characters, can scratch that itch. Without reading the preceding four-issue run (2022) this issue still feels pretty accessible but also, you should definitely read the first series. Where that initial run finished on an optimistic note, this issue is where idealism meets reality and unfortunately where a shared ideal “end” sees the limits of what means are justifiable to different people/puppets. Their efforts for liberation come into conflict with scarcity, the Stockholm syndrome of a group of people liberated from their oppression and leftist infighting. How do you contend with that? Truly, there’s no easy answer, but writers James Asmus and Jim Festante prove capable of navigating the nuance here as Ablay Kussainov’s art with colors by Ellie Wright capture the grit of dystopia while keeping true to the vibrance that you’d look for in puppets like we’d see on public broadcasting. The layouts are explosive just like the action and I think for all that, I love the quiet moments where these puppets are given such a range of emotion and we get to explore this dystopia. The letters of Taylor Esposito tie the whole thing together and what we get is a fun dystopian story with cutting critique of our modern media and sociopolitical landscape. I’m hooked and look forward to how this team is gonna weave this run together especially after that ending. —Khalid Johnson
The Prog Report
- 2000AD Prog 2401 (Rebellion Publishing): Following last week’s packed milestone crossover, The Prog returns with a series of fantastic new comics. We’ve got Garth Ennis and Patrick Goddard reuniting after last year’s excellent Blighty Valley for even more Rogue Trooper. We’ve got the continuation of Brink, and we’ve got John Burns final comics work before retirement in Nightmare New York. To me, however, the headliner here is writers Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt teaming with artist Jake Lynch, colorist Jim Boswell, and letterer Annie Parkhouse on Judge Dredd: Silence, which picks up where the instant-classic A Better World left off earlier this year. And it’s intriguing start to the follow-up arc. For me, A Better World is the best serialized comics story this year, and that makes Silence a must-read for me. I suggest you pick it up as well. As always, you can nab a digital copy of this week’s Prog here. —Zack Quaintance
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