The Good
In this brand new series, Lobo has a mission: He has to kill eight of the universe's deadliest assassins. These eight assassins were all hired for the same contract and Lobo has to head to Earth, a place he's not a big fan of, to pick them off.
The opening of the book is pretty awesome for fans of the new Lobo, as we see the final moments with the impostor Lobo, the one you remember from the 90s. He's a character that fits in the time he was created but doesn't work now. This real Lobo has a sense of class and, bizarrely enough, a moral code. He has no problems with killing, for the most part, but there's this whiff of aristocratic attitude throughout the issue, which is something I find extremely charming about the character.
The story and book shows a lot of potential. It's easy to see why Cullen Bunn was called up to write this book, since he has this great handle on villains and showing readers their world, through their eyes.
Artist Reilly Brown is a welcomed addition to the series. He makes violence look fun, as bizarre as that sounds. His art is consistent and his creature designs are pretty fun.
The Bad
I may have hyped this book up a bit too much for myself because it felt like it missed the mark a little. I was very excited to see Bunn and Brown working on this series together and to see the real Lobo get his own book, but this issue was a bit of a let down. It wasn't bad, but it did not meet expectations.
The story does show a lot of potential, but not too much is offered here other than a pretty simplistic story. Bunn is a great storyteller, but this issue doesn't offer the same level of storytelling that his other books does. The first issue offers something that is ultimately forgettable. As insulting as that sounds, it's not meant to come off that way. Once again, there's a lot of potential for something great here.
There's something just a tad off about the color work here. While Brown's art is a bit more animated, the colors just make this issue feel a tad more fantastical than I'd like to see. A more realistic, as realistic as you can get with made-up aliens, color palate could have really helped this issue out a lot more.
The Verdict
LOBO was a little bit of a let down. I was very excited for this new series, and while what was presented wasn't bad by any means, it didn't live up to expectations. However, there is a ton of potential in this series and it's worth picking up at least the first half of this arc to see how things go. I'll give this a recommendation, but with the hope this is going to be great because of Bunn and Brown are the creative team here.