By Mark Rodriguez
So here's a book I've been waiting for, for a while. Unlike most of the independent comics I have reviewed in the past that used indiegogo or Kickstarter, Eric July opted to open his own business and self-publish his first superhero comic in hopes it would become its own universe. The pre-order campaign ended at 3.7 million and sold way more orders for books, shirts, posters and caps than anyone could have prepared for. They are currently shipping and on their way. Due to this, read this review at your own discretion since I'm sure many customers have still not received their copy. Also since this is a 96 page epic, I won't be doing the usual play-by-play since that will take forever. I'll give a synopsis and my thoughts.
Isom deals with Avery Silman, who gained powers and became the titular hero for a while. He discovered this sort of life wasn't for him so Avery retired and became a rancher. His sister calls him up one day and tells him about a family friend that has gone missing. Avery reluctantly finds himself thrown back into the superhero life he left behind as he searches for this family friend. What will happen? Let's check it out.
Story summary-
The story opens with Avery getting a call from his sister Altona telling him about their family friend Jasmine has gone missing after taking an offer to work with their old friend Darren Fontaino. Avery is reluctant to return to the big city but does it because he doesn't want Jasmine's mother to worry.
Avery heads to the city and finds Fontaino's business. He asks him about Jasmine, to which Darren refuses to give him a straight answer to. Seeing as they were friends in the past, Darren offers Avery the chance to walk away. Since Avery continues to ask about Jasmine and if she's safe, Darren sends his men after him. Avery has above normal strength and quick reflexes and is able to send people flying with his punches. Seeing this, Darren calls in an Except (a super powered person) named Santwan, a large man with amazing strength of his own. Avery is caught off guard and Santwan roughs him up.
Outside of Fontaino's establishment, a female Except named Yaira was on a rampage for unknown reasons and it got to the point where the police called in a super-powered unit called Alphacore. During the fight, Santwan socks Avery out of the building and he happens to crash into Yaira. She thinks Avery is someone else that was sent by the person she's after due to him being so strong. To send a message, Yaira grabs Avery and takes to the sky. She lets him go and drops him onto a car.
Avery is taken to the hospital as the doctors consider he might be an Except after surviving being dropped onto a car from such a high distance. Avery has escaped from the hospital and calls his sister to pick him up. He gives Altona the details and he chooses to return to see Darren again. Avery considers that Darren might not be expecting him to return the same day. On top of that, Darren disrespected him and he won't let that stand.
Avery returns to the city and finds out where Darren's nightclub is. He actually finds Jasmine and asks her if she's there voluntarily. She doesn't answer and walks away as Darren's men start to pick a fight with Avery. He beats them up and goes back to the club telling anyone that doesn't want to get involved to leave. People think he's crazy until the rancher starts sending people flying. Santwan is called back in and we get ready for round 2.
Santwan says they're both Excepts but he hates that term since they're all lumped in the same group and he sees himself above Avery. The rematch is a little more even and this time Avery manages to defeat him. Just then the police show up and Avery makes a run for it. He later shows up at his sister's house which wakes up her daughter. The daughter thinks her uncle is a superhero and he denies it. At this point Avery is more concerned that Darren might send his men after them in retaliation than Jasmine's safety.
At the same time, Darren is indeed angry that some guy can just come in and cause trouble for his empire. He wants to send the message to his potential enemies that he is not somebody to mess with. He tells his men to find and take Avery down.
Avery returns to the place where he originally got his superhero costume. His friend wants to make an upgraded version of the classic outfit but wants to see if the original still fits. Avery tries on his classic Isom outfit from his superhero days and it still fits him.
Elsewhere a band named Norfrica just finished a performance. As the crowd leaves they feel a danger in the area but think it's too soon to call for reinforcements as it would plunge the world into chaos. They also have superpowers.
My thoughts-
This was a pretty fun read and it gives off the classic 80's action movie vibe where the hero goes on a one man mission to take down the bad guys. The scene where Avery enters the club and tells whoever doesn't want to get hurt to leave was straight out of a movie. The comic goes all in on the action and is great at showing every punch and kick with dynamic angles and impact. You can feel how Santwan and Avery are roughing each other up. I can see why the story was told in 96 pages, Eric didn't want to skimp out on the action.
I hope this was only my copy and not everybody else's. I get that this is the first book and mistakes will be made but I've never seen an indie book that had this type of thing |
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