He'll Put A Shock To Your System
It's been the better part of a decade but Static is finally back in one of those weird "Season" things that comics have started doing and while I don't like comparing comics to television shows...... for a lot of reasons, but for this moment I don't like doing it because there's a chance that a show won't get picked up for a second season. Yeah, you can say that a comic can get canceled but at least I feel like I know what's going on when we stick to comic terms. Anyway, that's neither here nor there, what's right in front of us is Virgil Hawkins making his way back on the scene with a new reimagined origin for my favorite hero to come out of the Milestone Universe. Let's jump into this and see what our #1 issue looks like.
Right off the bat, I want to tell you to go back and read "The Milestone Returns #0" on the DC Universe Infinite app because even though this issue is a #1, it's just going to tell you to go back and read that prequel issue that's all about the different Milestone characters to get the lowdown you want....... Now even though I want to tell you to do that... I don't know if it's really necessary because beyond a vague attack by police during a Black Lives Matter protest, where the police shot untested chemicals at people that turned them into power having "Bang Babies", there's not a lot that lines up with that prequel comic and what this issue is saying happened.
This issue pretty much has Virgil starting to get better at his powers while his parents think he still has PTSD about the protest he attended and while Virgil thinks that his friends Richie and Frieda are looking at him differently now that he does have powers. Not to mention that Hot Streak is looking for payback from a fight that went down in that prequel comic. The problem is, you don't get much understanding about the family besides the fact that Virgil's father wants him to get back into Martial Arts, Richie and Frieda weren't at the fight in the prequel comic, and for whatever reason, in that prequel comic, they kept calling Hot Streak Frank, wherein this they go with Francis. Ultimately, this issue ends on an interesting cliffhanger that makes you wonder who knows that Virgil has powers and will they look down on him for having them since they lead to tragedy by the end of this issue.
All in all, I enjoyed the art in this issue a lot. It has a cool anime like style and the colors get to pop off the page. Sadly though, I felt that the story left a lot to be desired because it doesn't seem like anyone really wanted to do any of the heavy lifting when it comes to the superhero origin of this comic because ultimately, The Milestone Returns only gave us a vague look and this issue just said go read that and moved on without really dealing with Virgil's take on what happened to him or what he's going to do with the power....... or how he even feels about the power itself. I know that Static has had a few series in the past and even a great cartoon series but Batman he's not and while most comic fans are tired of seeing Martha's pearls drop onto a grimy street, I think that a refreshing on Virgil Hawkins could have helped a lot of people who might just be seeing this character for the first time since he hasn't had a series in ten years and I don't know if a first time reader of this character is going to get enough out of this issue to want to continue forward.
Bits and Pieces:
Even though I love the character and am happy that he's finally getting a series again after a decade long break, this first issue didn't really do anything except tell us to read another comic while setting up a round two between Virgil and Francis that people who just pick up this issue...... since it is a #1, wouldn't know anything about and really I don't know what picking up the Milestone Returns #0 will do for you here because a lot of things from that issue don't jibe with what we see happening here. I still look forward to this series but a strong first issue this was not.
The trademark sense of humor we saw in the original comic and the cartoon is missing so far. That does not bode well.
ReplyDeleteI agree
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