Review – Gold Key Alliance #1 (Dynamite)

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Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Phil Hester
Artist: Brent Peebles
Release Date: 6th April 2016

On paper, Gold Key Alliance is a winning concept. A team-up featuring some of the memorable characters from the iconic comic imprint as they unite to battle a ‘greater evil’ in a struggle which promises to change them all forever? Sounds good, right? Featuring Dynamite mainstays Magnus: Robot Fighter, Solar: Man of the Atom, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and The Mighty Samson, there’s undoubtedly a hell of a lot of potential for this series, based solely on the possibilities offered up by the interactions between these characters.

Unfortunately, this first issue serves as a bit of a proverbial middle finger to anyone who picked it up with this in mind. Instead of the team-up hinted at by the blurb (and indeed the cover), what we instead get are four stories that appear to have zero connection to one another, each serving as a somewhat blunt introduction to one of the characters. And that’s it. The final page admittedly hints at something bigger to come, but for a first issue, this fails to deliver on almost every level.

Do I care about the characters based on what I’ve read here? No, not really. They’re all heroic, sure – with the exception of Samson, who just seems a bit confused, but none of them do little more than some mildly generic “good guy” stuff before we’re whisked along to the next one. Do I want to pick up the next issue based on what I’ve read here? Absolutely not. There’s nothing, and I mean nothing to hook a new reader in here. Sure, if you’re a die-hard fan of one (or all) of the characters, you’re probably planning to pick it up out of curiosity. That said, if you are a fan of these character, this issue is going to serve as an even bigger middle finger, being as it’s effectively a drawn-out introduction to characters you already know.

Phil Hester is a fantastic writer, so it’s doubly disappointing that he alone seems to be responsible for this generic, uninspired offering. I’m sure (or perhaps “hopeful” would be a better word) that Hester has something bigger in mind for this series, but as I’m unfortunately limited to reviewing one issue at a time, I have to call it as I see it, and the way I see it, this is a pretty much a misfire on every level. Artist Brent Peebles does an admirable job, portraying these iconic characters in a bold, confident manner, but again, the lack of any sort of emotional investment of narrative flow really undermines his efforts.

It’s difficult to know who this comic is aimed at. For newcomers, it’s a dull affair without any real story other than “here are the characters”. For existing fans, it’s an utterly redundant and fairly superficial look at characters they already know. In all honesty, this feels like a Free Comic Book Day teaser being marketed as an actual comic with a cover price, which is an incredibly disappointing outcome for what should be – on paper, at least – a winning concept. Skip this one entirely and start the series for issue #2 if you’re dead-set on following this one. Trust me, you aren’t missing anything.