Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Freddie Williams II
Release Date: 11th December 2013

A reinvention of a short-lived 60s superhero comic (hence the slightly goofy Legion of Superheroes sounding name) Brain Boy’s zero issue is part espionage adventure and part superhero romp. Raised from birth by ‘biovancements’ company Albright Industries, Matthew Price has impressive psychic powers and a code name he cannot stand. This issue tells of an early adventure for Matt as he supports a Secret Service team protecting the American President at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. Brought in to do a psychic sweep of the grounds, things quickly go awry when the rest of his team are overcome by an attack, leaving the fate of the world in the hands and mind of Brain Boy.

The artwork by Freddie Williams is of a high standard, managing to be detailed without being overly fussy. Although there’s nothing too far out in terms of character appearance (Brain Boy is essentially a teenager in a three-piece suit) the facial expressions help flesh out the characters and the panel layouts are consistently interesting. There are some cool ideas like Matthew’s glowing silhouette acting as a frame to images he sees in his mind or certain panels having jagged, splashy edges that go a long way to visualising complicated mind-based powers.

Fred Van Lente’s writing is very good too. The story nimbly moves from espionage action to something more mysterious while incorporating comedy as well, all without seeming erratic or forced. One sequence involving Matthew’s panicked distress call being put through to a call centre moves seamlessly from comedy to tragedy in the space of three pages and shows a writer who is capable of turning a scene on its head. Much of which is true of Brain Boy #0 as a whole, the story and artwork are consistently surprising. I want to spend more time reading Brain Boy and see more of him reading other people.

Rating: 8/10.

The writer of this piece was: Joe Morrison
Joe is Freelance film journalist based in Glasgow.
You can also find Joe on Twitter.