This is one cool book. I have a lot of fun reading Magnus. Sometimes I listen to video game or movie soundtracks while I read my weekly pull. And if you have it, I suggest reading this issue or this series in general while listening to the Deus Ex: Human Revolution soundtrack. It’s a futuristic sound for a futuristic book. The tone matches perfectly, but not just the written tone, the visual one as well. Fred Van Lente makes me read stuff that I’d never even consider reading five years ago. Actually, if Fred is looking for a compliment here, check this out. He’s one of the reasons that I’ve returned to print comics. I think for this day and age, returning to print comics is a critical decision to make. I’ve been strictly digital since 2011, but I was definitely missing something from my old hobby. I’ll be honest with you, though. I move around a lot. Transporting five thousand comic books is hard on you multiple ways. And the collection count is constantly rising. It takes a toll on you physically, and more importantly in this economy, financially. So bring on the pain. So believe it or not, I’m happy to say that I’m back, and thanks a ton! Aside from Fred’s contribution, Dynamite Entertainment has really kicked it up a notch with everything within the past two years. It’s been like a complete 180 has been done, at least from my point of view. These folks are hooking up some of the coolest creators out there with some of the coolest (and already established) characters in the industry. I can’t wait to see what they put out next (psst, Splinter Cell!!!).
There are ways to catch a Robot Fighter. One of them is to send Human Hunter, Leeja Cane. And she’s set her sights on Magnus. And it doesn’t look like she gives up easily. She has huge guns, and check this out, she has theme music. How is Magnus going to survive against another human, and why is she working for a robotic government?
Other than the nice little twist in this issue, which is nice, the script overall is written really well. I’m starting to get the impression that Magnus is going to have a hard time figuring out who his friends are. And even then, it doesn’t look like the count is going to be very high. Imagine having a friend list on Facebook, of, I don’t know, ten people. And now that you have that list, narrow it down by who you can trust. When you get the final number, it’ll make you run for your life.
I really like that Cory Smith entertains differently this month. I guess it’s the same, as in artically, but his art gets a nice little face lift during the chase scenes. You kind of feel like you’re watching reality television. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say that that was exactly the effect that Cory was going for.
I wasn’t going to mention this, but I can’t just be too nauseatingly positive. I gotta keep these guys on their toes. At least a little bit. I wasn’t really a big fan of the theme song thing. It was kinda ‘meh’. I get it and everything, but I don’t know, wasn’t my thing. Other than that, great issue this month.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Cory Smith Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/21/14 Format: Ongoing, Print/Digital