A Noir, Pulp Tale of Heroes Past
We are introduced to The Operative as he begins his quest for vengeance and justice. Somebody's murdered his gal and set him up for the fall. He's a man who's short on friends with plenty of enemies. Not the least of which being a corrupt NYPD.
The Good
I'm a sucker for classic pulp heroes and noir, mystery tales so this book is right up my Alley. Even more so this is just the kind of book that David Liss was meant to write and Patrick Zircher was meant to illustrate.
Period pieces can be hard to pull off, very hard. That being said, Liss and Zircher create a fully fleshed out, believable depression era New York. The mentions of the current political goings on, the voiced social concern, the attitudes towards race and sex are all handled deftly and with the appropriate nuance.
Zircher's artwork really stole the show this issue. He does most of the heavy lifting for me when it comes to creating this world of Marvel's days past. And his character designs (shown so far) are excellent nods to the great pulp heroes.
I like the way that Liss writes Operative as a Robin Hood type of character. This archetype's been done before, plenty, but setting him amidst the squalor of the great depression and making him one of the social upper crust lends a unique dynamic to him.
The General is a good villain for this title and fits in with the retro/nostalgic feel. Liss show's us just enough to establish what he's capable of and leaves us plenty mystery to chew over in our minds. He sets the stakes and firmly establishes what our heroes are up against.
The Revenant won me over the moment he appeared on panel. Totally reminds me of The Shadow, a character I absolutely loved as a kid. I love the way Liss built up to his appearance by making his existence a topic of discussion among the denizens of the city. Even slid a nice little nod to the Daily Bugle and it's relationship with later vigilantes into there for good measure. I look forward to future Easter eggs like this.
One of my favorite comics is Marvels which did a superb job of displaying the average citizen's reaction to the emergence of costumed heroes throughout various decades. Setting this title a bit before the time period covered in that series was a wise move. There's an added tension to this story that's often missing in modern ones. There's a firmly established sense of isolation to this story that raises the stakes. I truly feel like our heroes are fighting against the odds with only each other to rely upon. This is A very, very different New York. This is a meaner, darker, less friendly New York. One not so cluttered with Super Heroes that you questioned how anybody would dare attempt anything short of white collar crime and minor traffic violations.
The Bad
Normally I Liss' dialog is my favorite part of a story, but here it wasn't. It just didn't feel organic to me this issue. Normally Liss is great at telling stories with a noir feel and heavy atmosphere (see his Black Panther for proof), but here this feels like Liss writing what he feels a pulp comic should sound like and not fully throwing his unique flavor on it. Nothing is particularly bad, just standard and formulaic. His dialog and pacing of this first issue hits all the expected beats and brings all the tropes that are expected by genre aficionados. Liss is a truly, truly talented writer and I'm hoping that he will cut loose a bit and get a little more personal and creative next issue.
The Verdict
Buy this comic
Minor issues aside this is a comic that does everything right. It introduces the faces, the heels, sets the stakes, and made me want to come back for more. Anybody looking for a change of pace from the typical Marvel suits and boots fair should definitely look here. The solid storytelling and stellar artwork will draw you in and make you want more.