Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Chondra Echert, Claudio Sanchez
Artist: Daniel Bayliss
Release Date: 16th April 2014

For a first issue in a six part series I was not thoroughly impressed, I actually felt a little let down. That’s not to say that I won’t be picking up the next issue to see if it gets any better, but I definitely felt that this issue was missing something. The story seems to follow the main Villain called “The Horse,” who was just recently released from prison and his search to bring back the City’s Hero, “The Navigator,” who has been absent since his imprisonment. The Horse develops and elaborate plan to bring him back out into the open only to hit the reader with an interesting twist at the end.

The opening page is a young boy sketching in a notebook making up characters for what I’m guessing is his own comic, then it quickly switches to revealing who we later learn is the villain of this story. It jumps back and forth like this a few times throughout the book and to me it made the story confusing. I understand that it is quite possibly a literary tactic to keep the reader guessing as to what is actually going on and to keep them coming back for the full six issue arc, but for a first issue it caused a lack of story development. Also it seemed as if too many characters were introduced too quickly and with very little in the way of individual development, which left me not really invested in what was taking place thus far. Having said all that, I definitely found myself intrigued by the plot that developed at the end of the book between the Villain and the Hero.

Daniel Bayliss’ artwork is actually quite stunning. His ability to create this big city with it’s skyscrapers and clean-lined buildings makes you feel as if you are standing on one of the rooftops watching the scenes take place. Each character is highly detailed and totally unique from other comics you can grab off the shelf. The panels are done in a way that feels like they are stills taken from a reel where, if played one after another, it would be like watching them on the big screen. So, even taking into account the lack of strong plot, the artwork and the pace it sets manages to carry the story well.

I’m not writing off this story just yet.  In fact, I have high hopes that with the coming issues the story will build more and more and this will become a ‘must read’ by the time the final issue sees print.

Rating: 3/5.

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The writer of this piece was: Shane Hoffman (aka “Hoff”)
You can also find Hoff on Twitter.