Each of the participating writers/reviews of Comic Bastards will give the issue a score of: Buy, Borrow or Pass along with a short reason for the score. Here’s a blurb about the issue from Dark Horse Comics before we begin: Staring into a fractured mirror of her life, the world’s first superhero, Furious, seeks to atone for her past sins by doling out rage-fueled justice! But the spotlight of our celebrity-obsessed media threatens to undo her noblest efforts and expose her true identity before she can achieve redemption.
Kimberly: BUY
I have anxiously been anticipating the arrival of Furious for a while now and I’m so excited to tell you guys about it. Dark Horse Comics brings to us Furious and just as the many other superheroes that DC and Marvel has graced us with Furious leads a double life. It’s a breath of fresh air because unlike the role model archetypes of other well-known super heroes, Furious deals with inner demons and is painted as this loaded cannon that does more damage than good. Furious, a name the media pegged her with, desperately looks for redemption by becoming a ruthless vigilante. Her story is potent full of complex character development and scandal that hopefully will be revealed in later issues. Very impressed with Bryan J L Glass and Victor Santos for creating a story like this one. I shall deem it a “Buy.”
Neil: BUY
There was a lot of hype in Twitter promoting this book; I have to admit I got caught up in hype as well. I decided to give Furious a shot because it was sold under the premise that this isn’t your typical super hero comic book. After reading the first issue, I have to admit that the book does live up to the hype. The book does have the grit and grim that most modern day cape books have, but what sets this book apart from the typical hero book, is the rich character development you get in the first issue. You really get to dig into Furious’ psyche, while not giving away the entire backstory.
Aside from the character story that you get in the book, there is another issue that the comic tackles and that is the issue of power or fame, whether it’s a superhero power, or the power that a media can have on people, where they can make or break a person is an interesting issue the book takes and it makes you question who really is the “good” guys and the “bad” guys in the book. The art in the issue was very good, I love Furious’ design. Clean, and bright and modern, just to give you a feel that the story takes place in our modern times. I am definitely in for issue two. I want to see where the writers take this character and the story.
Dustin: BUY
I’ve been looking forward to this issue since it was first teased and with that comes a lot of anticipation and hype. I’ve only had one book hyped by Dark Horse that let me down, but it let me down hard; enough so that I was still cautious going into this series. Then there was the fantastic short story in Dark Horse Comics Presents and I knew that I was going to love the hell out of this book.
And it only got better in this first issue. The layers of complexity for our main character are so deep. I know that the creative team particularly wanted her to be a strong female character, but really she’s a strong character period. Her gender didn’t even factor in for me because I was emerged in her story. The writing is fantastic. The narrative of “The Beacon’s” thoughts is very earnest and an amazing window into her mind.
Again, I’ve been waiting for this book since the teaser and since the teaser was the art… I liked the art. There are so many variables to the style. There’s a little bit of Darwyn Cooke; a bit of Michael Avon Oeming, but it’s all so dynamic and wonderful. The coloring is spectacular and gives it a classic look to it, but keeps in modern as well.
This was a great first issue and I have a feeling it’s only going to continue to get better. I would say you should buy two; one for yourself and one for your friend that will regret not buying it in a week.
Score: BUY IT!
Writer: Bryan J.L. Glass Artist: Victor Santos Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 1/29/14