Review – We Can Never Go Home #1 (Black Mask Studios)

Publisher: Black Mask Studios
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg, Patrick Kindlon
Artist: Josh Hood
Release Date: 25th March, 2015

It’s not often I read a review comic and go immediately to order and subscribe to it, but that’s exactly what happened after I read this book.

What if people with superpowers actually existed? And I don’t mean like Rooney’s skill with a ball or Bolt’s ability to…well, bolt. Would we hold them aloft and think of all the ways they could save mankind? Or would we point and laugh? Label them freaks? Unfortunately I don’t think highly enough of mankind to think it would be the first and in the world of high school, there is no doubt.

And what of the villains? ‘Cause every good superhero needs a super villain or what’s the point in being powerful? What if the villains weren’t megalomaniacs that wanted to hold the world in their greedy paw? What if they were just the everyday evil that pervades our lives? Abusive fathers, sexist boyfriends, bitchy It girls.

I apologise for all the rhetorical questions but honestly, this issue is just pregnant with questions. Duncan and Madison meet each other when Duncan interrupts Madison and her jerk-boyfriend on Make-Out Hill. Madison’s powers are revealed and Duncan confides that he also has a power – he can kill people with his mind. Don’t ask how he found that out. Out of all the high school bullshit, they bond, over a mix-tape (I am an 80s girl and that made me squeal). Then something happens when Madison returns the earlier favour and interrupts Duncan and his jerk-father. They can never go home.

This comic promises so much and I am really hoping it goes the way I want it to. Superheroes in the real world tend to take the easy route and come up with a super villain to make the story. How many times can we tell that tale in myriad ways? The real world would shun them not embrace them. Mark Millar’s Kick Ass kind of addressed the familiar trope but this comic promises to deliver more. It feels realistic. The dialogue, setting, situations are all very real and not a McGuffin in sight.

At this point, I should mention the artwork. It’s pretty good. A little issue with the Asian Madison not looking wholly Asian, but that homogenisation of race in artwork is fairly common. The colouring makes it though with fresh, lively colours. A nod to the superhero style but dampened by reality and ordinary beauty.

Anyway, I am looking forward to having all my questions answered and will be sticking with the series. You should do the same.

Rating: 5/5.

The Writer of this piece was: Hazel Hay
You can follow Hazel on Twitter