Summer is in full swing, and while it’s been a pretty scary month with droughts, floods, storms, and the continued presence of the pandemic, July has been a great month for comics. This was a month that saw re-imaginings and revamps of classic characters, new ideas, and new stories that had no right to be as good as they were.
Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Milestone is BACK baby “Icon and Rocket” #1
In 1993, a group of African American comic book creators founded Milestone Media in an effort to create and promote more ethnically diverse superheroes. One of their founders was a man named Dwayne McDuffie, a man who tragically passed away way too soon, but is fondly remembered by nerds everywhere for being a driving creative force behind the excellent Justice League cartoon and Milestone’s most famous character and star of his own hit animated show: Static Shock.
While the return of Milestone had been teased for some time. July saw the re-launch of the company’s two most powerful heroes: Icon and Rocket.
To sum up these two characters up: Icon is essentially a Superman like figure whose ship crash landed in an 1839 cotton field, where he was adopted by a slave family and took the appearance of a black child and adopted the name Augustus Freeman so he could blend in. While he is immortal, invulnerable, and can shoot energy beams from his eyes, he has lived a long life of isolation and is a cautious and conservative man who is unsure that his abilities should be used to solve the world’s problems. Enter Rquel Ervin, a young black girl in the modern day who convinces Freeman that his abilities can and should be used for the greater good, and she resolves to work with him to make that dream a reality.
It’s a solid book that has a lot of very interesting things to say about superheroes and helping people while re introducing two characters from an iconic brand to a modern audience.
Cover by: Taurin Clarke
Marvel Comics, across the ages! “Amazing Fantasy” #1
Speaking of iconic brands for a modern audience, Marvel Comics decided to treat its fans and readers to a time capsule of a history lesson starring some of their most iconic characters from their most iconic timelines in “Amazing Fantasy” #1. Written and drawn by Kaare Andrews, the book sees WW2 era Captain America, 1960’s teenage Spiderman, and Red Room Black Widow plucked from their places in time and thrown into a fantastical world filled with monsters, dangerous new enemies, and strange new allies that look and read like something out of an old school pulp novel from the 1930’s.
Everything about “Amazing Fantasy” #1 screams notalgia, especially the retro cover art that feels like something straight out of a Frank Frezetta painting. Andrews does a very good job of making each character feel distinct and important, first by giving each character a different art style to reflect their respective eras and then by giving them a chance to showcase their abilities and talents once they’re on the island.
Nostalgia aside, it’s also a very well told story with an amazing premise and mysterious location that should be a lot of fun to play around with. It’s the best kind of history lesson a comic book fan could hope for: a fun one.
Cover by: Kaare Andrews
Superman is dead, long live Superman “Superman: Son of Kal-El” #1
Speaking of history, is there any hero in the entirety of modern comic books more historic and more iconic than Superman? Premiering in 1938, the big blue boyscout ushered in an age of heroes, launched the comic book medium into the stratosphere of public consciousness, and has become the standard from which all other heroes are measured.
He’s also been called boring, uninteresting, and too powerful. Funnily enough, people have been trying to replace Superman for years, and for some reason their efforts keep failing.
Well, DC has decided to try passing the mantle of Superman from Clark Kent to his son Jonathan in “Superman: Son of Kal-El” #1. Written by Tom Taylor with art by John Timms, “Superman: Son of Kal-El” #1 is trying to move the Superman myth forwards and provide a way to update it for the modern era, and it does a very good job of doing it. Jonathan has just enough of his father in him to be familiar and comfortable, but just different enough and young enough to want to do things better than the old way. Jonathan is already a hero in his own right with a very well fleshed out backstory and character, but the one thing that is going to define him for the rest of his life, is how well he rises up to the world’s expectations of him as a hero. It’s a sentiment that a lot of readers also have for this comic book series, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Continued belowThe new era of the House of El wants to make the world safe for truth, justice, and a better world, and it looks like this comic is a good first step.
Cover by: John Timms
The most gorgeous book you’re not reading right now “Bermuda” #1
Finally, we’re going to step away from the established past of the comic book industry and look towards the future by looking at a comic book series that tries to be fun and beautiful original adventure story and knocks it out of the park: Bermuda #1.
Written by long time comic book writer John Layman with art by Nick Bradshaw, IDW’s new series follows two children from a very wealthy family as they crash land on a mysterious island filled with aliens, monsters, dinosaurs, and a peppy survivalist girl named Bermuda who will do everything she can to help the children survive the island.
Not only does this book have the makings of a great adventure story that should delight children and adults alike, it’s one of the most beautifully drawn and colored books I’ve ever read. This is a prime example of what comic books can be when they are created by a team that understands the medium and are passionate about what they do.
There’s not much more that I can say about this book other than the fact that I loved it, I think it’s going to be one of the best books of the year, and that if this is the best comics have to offer, than the future is incredibly bright indeed.
Cover by Nick Bradshaw
