By Dustin Cabeal

You might be wondering why I'm reviewing a three-month-old comic... maybe four months, I can never tell. Well, recently, Xbox gave away a subscription to the poorly named DC Infinite, and I decided to see what DC was up to. First and foremost, there is nothing "infinite" about the app. If you want to read new books, you'll need the Ultra upgrade, which allows you to read the digital version a month after its release. So, why am I reading the first issue of a comic that's likely already on its fourth issue? That's why, that's why.

Cyborg #1 follows a familiar formula for first-issue superhero comics starring long-established supporting characters now focused on as main characters. Don't get me wrong; I like Cyborg, and I understand that he's someone's favorite superhero, and that's great. Every character is someone's favorite, but not every character is meant to be a main character. It's something that's often forgotten in comics. Editors, I assume, or even corporate overlords, decide to highlight a character and try to "make them a star," I can imagine some suit saying. Will it work? I kind of doubt it with this iteration of Cyborg. He's a great supporting character, but when you move a supporting character to the main role, you open the question of "who supports the supporting character?"

In the case of Cyborg #1, it's his "Robo-dad" and a therapist who only serves as a plot device for Victor's boring, overused past. My dad ignored me, so I played college football until a horrible accident almost killed me, and without my permission, he turned me into a cool android, cyborg, or whatever you want to call it. That's a lot of facilitated drama. Granted, "crime killed my parents" isn't much better, but at least Batman came with a city full of amazing villains and not just some daddy issues. Cyborg faces Mammoth and Giz... I would have to add a letter of the alphabet to give them a proper ranking, but let's just say they're Z-list villains who decide that Detroit is the place to be as up-and-coming ice cream villains. It's a squash match for sure, meaning it's a quick and easy win for Cyborg, but wow, wouldn't it have been something if they had held their ground against him? It was two against one. They could have left the scene defeated, not accomplishing their goal, and Cyborg would have to level up the next time he faced them.

Instead, the issue spends the rest of the time on the couch, recounting the overly dramatic history between Victor and his father. I mean, I guess he's a dickhead; it seems like he just wasn't much of a family man, but he attempted a lot of good. It doesn't matter now; he's dead. Victor gets a call from someone he dated who worked for his father, and then we get a lot of "I wish I were Robocop" news bumps that are just awful to read. It's the worst comic device ever used in my opinion because it's always just a cheap exposition dump that is never rewarding to read. Two pages are used to say, "what do we think of Cyborg being in the city?" and "Hey, lowkey, here's our new villain that will probably be forgotten after this arc." Instead, those two pages could have been used to have a kid throw matcha ice cream at Cyborg and say, "Boo, we don't like you; we like this other guy because he doesn't have daddy issues and takes care of the city." Unfortunately, it's two pages of a talking head doing their best news impersonation and fake tweets that had way too much time invested in them.

All this leads me to art, which from beginning to end, has a very dated feel to it. All the tech looks like super soaker-inspired 90s designs, which doesn't come across as a near-future version of Detroit. The linework is clean but bubbly. Detroit looks like the cleanest, nicest place on the planet to live. We're talking about Detroit here... The one thing about Cyborg is that he's supposed to represent impossible future tech, and with that, there should be a unique look and aesthetic to his tech. Cyborg continues to lack that style, substance, and trademark look. He's generic, and it's even more apparent when he's next to his "Robo-dad" with a design by Bungie (the game makers). The colors are muted and safe tones; there are no real standout characters. Everything looks safe and clean. It's not bad by any means, but it also doesn't add anything to the artwork or story. I feel a bit douchey saying, "it's not that it's bad," because it's quite good. The couches and chairs all look wonderful and realistic, but when I go back to the aesthetic of the world and the technology, it lacks personality and substance to support or create that aesthetic.

Even after saying all this, Cyborg #1 isn't a bad comic book, just uninspired. It's average at best and considering it's the first issue launching a new line and status quo at DC Comics, it should be something to be excited about. Instead, reading it feels like we're all just going through the motions. Perhaps if they build Victor a decent supporting cast to elevate him to a main character role and give him some villains that are worthy of terrorizing Detroit, it might improve. Based on this first issue, though, it'll probably end up generic and dull.

Score: 3/5

Cyborg #1
DC Comics