It’s been a while since we talked about Epic on the site. We had an early, early look at the first issue and so some time has passed since then. I for one enjoyed the first issue. Sure there isn’t a lot of meat and potatoes to the tale, but that’s okay. Sometimes I just want a comic book to be fun and goofy and Epic mastered that formula out of the gate. This is going to be weird, but it reminded me like a cross between Ultimate Spider-Man and Archie. I know right? USM because it captured the teen vigilante angle quite well, sure we haven’t really dived into school and all that but there’s time. The Archie angle comes from the story beats. You get a complete story for sure, but it doesn’t feel the need to show you every little movement in the plot; for some reason that just reminded me of Archie. This issue opens old-school in which we already see our hero in danger much like he is on the cover. I have to say that I love this throwback storytelling device because it’s entertaining. It’s just one page and then the story actually begins rather than the six page cold opener that a lot of superhero titles rely on.

Our hero is in costume listening to a police scanner hoping to find a crime he can jump in on. Now that he and his friend Beanie have discovered that his kryptonite is good old fashion teenage hormones or rather what women do to his hormones, they know what calls he can and can’t go on. Wouldn’t you know it the first three calls are all calls that he can’t go on because he’d be depowered instantly, but the fourth involves a giant spider man! Eric is out the window quick, but he’ll soon discover that there’s something not quite right about the spider… man.

First off I love the tip of the hat to Spider-Man by having the conflict of the story being a man turned into a giant spider. It was a nice touch since Eric’s character is very Spidey inspired. Otherwise I liked the story. The writing is solid and while it’s not as deep or moving as The Red Ten, it’s entertaining and gives me a quick fix of superhero goodness.

The art is perfect for the superhero genre and Fico Ossio illustrates actual children. Seriously it’s one of my biggest pet peeves with the comic industry when kids look like disproportioned adults, but that’s not the case here. Are all of the kids perfect? No, but for how many Ossio illustrates in this issue I would say he did a fine job. Also Ossio colors the book and that’s where the real charm and style of the series comes from. The shiny, glossy look of each panel is right at home with the genre and adds to the charm of the series.

If you’re more into the serious corporate produced superhero comics you may not like this series, but if you’re looking to be entertaining and just have some pure superhero storytelling then definitely check out Epic. This issue has a recap at the beginning so even if you missed the first issue you can still jump on here with issue two. I like entertaining superhero stories and this year has provided a great edition of humorous stories and Epic can definitely count itself among the mix.

Score: 4/5

Writer: Tyler James Artist: Fico Ossio Publisher: ComixTribe Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/6/14 Format: Ongoing; Print