The Death of Mark Hamill
He killed Mark Hamill. He got the artist from Watchmen, to draw Mark Hamill dying. In fact, I was already considering getting this, I generally enjoy Millar's Icon work, but my funds have been a little.... But then I happened to notice the character credits included Mark Hamill; AND ONLY MARK HAMILL. So I was understandably both perplexed and immensely intrigued. So I bought it. And Mark Hamill died. And I gotta say, he didn't exactly do the best job with him either. I mean, I'm not saying I wanted him to be a real live Jedi or Joker or anything; but Hamill was drawn clearly with Luke Skywalker in mind. Mark Hamill doesn't really look too much like that anymore. Gibbons drew the young Mark Hamill, and can't even trick me into saying the story takes place then because he clearly states that it's been THIRTY YEARS since Return of the Jedi. Come on man. In fact this issue takes pride in how current it is; which is a surefire way to get 'dated' quickly and stuck in the past.
"Can I get money to go see Battleship? [...] It's got special effects and 3D."
"What's the friggin novelty, mate? It's all just a big scam so the film companies can charge extra money."
"[...] From Star Trek." "The originals or the J.J. Abrams version?" "Oh, the originals of course. But Lady Hunt and I watched the new one on Pay-Per view last weekend and I have to say I was very impressed. I resisted the idea of a remake at first, but the chap playing the doctor was practically channeling Deforrest Kelly."
Ok, now you've crossed the line from stupidly establishing relevance, to broadcasting your opinions. Maybe I'm wrong, but those lines come across as painfully forced advertising.
And then I started to feel like I was reading the first issue of The Invisibles. British kid. Hangs out with delinquents even though he COULD do fantastic in school. Mother is lazy and possibly a bit of a whore or something, just doesn't take ANY responsibility for her own mistakes and lets the son do whatever. Big global organization is going about their business and catch sight of the kid after he HIJACKS A YELLOW CAR WITH HIS BUDDIES AND CRASHES IT AFTER THEY DRIVE AROUND DRINKING OH COME ON!
So it's like The Invisibles.... but without any supernatural stuff. I guess. Ok, the premise is completely different as near as I can tell thus far; but the setup is almost identical down to some odd details.
Ok ok, I've had some jibes at this issues' expense, but surprisingly enough (after all that bashing) I really enjoyed this first issue. It spent a LOT of time on character development. You see why this smart kid plays delinquent. His family SUCKS. His stepdad has his step-brother roll 'doobies' for him and then.... makes fun of how he says it because he's either really little or mentally handicapped? This issue doesn't DO a whole lot, but it shows you the surface of where it's going. Because the story is actually still pretty hidden. Is it a normal Secret Service, or something more? Why the hell are old sci-fi stars being kidnapped? That sure is unusual right there.
In Conclusion: 4/5
It's certainly an interesting start, but its a little too much of that. But in the long run, that's not exactly bad. It's just... this is the beginning, and time needs to be spent in setup. But I'm not reviewing the SERIES, I'm reviewing issues. This one showed tons of potential, and kept a lot of that hidden. In a good way, it didn't show it's hand at all. Still got its poker face up, and all we've caught so far is it's verbal tics. Or maybe we're playing Blackjack so we know what cards are on the table. I'll stop with the metaphors now.
