Written by Paul Cornell
Illustrated by Javier PinaSTAN’S BACK! THE PUBLISHING EVENT OF THE YEAR! Stan Lee, the most colossal force in the history of comics, teams up with BOOM! Studios to deliver a brand new line of superhero comics! The great innovator of our industry brings his inimitable talents back to the direct market in an explosive line of comics that nobody is prepared for! His epic superhero series with Paul Cornell (ACTION COMICS, DOCTOR WHO) and Javier Pina (SUPERMAN, BATMAN) continues in SOLDIER ZERO! Half man. Half alien. All weapon! Stewart Travers struggles to understand his Trauttmann power as he battles against an enemy alien force that has turned Earth into a battlefield!
When Boom! Studios initially pulled back the veil on this whole Stan Lee partnership, I was a little intrigued by it. Three top class writers working on brand new freshly cooked characters from the mind of the guy that created Spider-Man? That was going to be interesting no matter what (especially given the last new character I remember him creating.) A few months later we got Soldier Zero, who has now had two issues on the shelves before either of the other two characters made their official debuts. How does the second issue hold up? In short: a lot better than the first.
While last issue introduced us to the human side of the title character, Stewart Troutmann, this issue began peeling back the layers and gave us a crash course in his symbiosis with the as-yet-unnamed alien battle suit that bonded to him, creating Soldier Zero. While I don’t plan to reveal the specific who’s, where’s and what for’s, I will say that we learn exactly why the suit chose Stewart, the exact nature of their symbiosis, a bit of the suit’s history and personality and a sliver of just what its able to do (though I suspect we have NOT seen the full extent of it. While any brand new book has to spend a good amount of time fleshing out the character, their universe AND the current story at first, Cornell manages to weave the “educational” bits in with a healthy bit of intrigue and tension as Stewart learns how to deal with suit, and versa. Often known to be almost eerily specific with his word choice, nothing Cornell writes here is a throwaway line. Even if it does not directly impact the action taking place on the page, every word balloon throws something new and relevant onto the page and even seemingly inconsequential lines (like one specific one about Stewart’s nether region) all appear to be leading to something down the line. If that isn’t relevant storytelling I’m not sure what is.
However, the main reason this issue gets a leg up on the previous one is that, simply put, a LOT more happened this time around. Sure learning about Troutmann and the nature of his injury and paralysis added a lot to the now surprisingly (given that it is the second issue) well fleshed out backstory, this issue began constructing the “present” Soldier Zero story, showing us things that will actively propel the story forward rather than inform it as it moves along. Plus seeing the suit in action with Troutmann behind the wheel was a helluva lot of fun.
My one complaint about Javier Pina’s work here is that the fantastic Trevor Hairsine cover set such a great precedent for the issue that when I opened the issue and saw Pina’s work, I was just a little let down. That having been said, his work really was great, and was noticeably more polished than the stuff he threw down for us last issue. His line-work is sturdy and crisp and is highly reminiscent of Jason Howard’s work on The Astounding Wolf-Man. However, I feel his strength’s truly lie in his panel composition, which frame the story in some really innovative and interesting ways. The placement of the panels on the page is often an attribute that some readers just gloss over, but when done right it has an undeniably positive affect on a book, and it is definitely done right here.
All in all, it is extremely hard to create a new, viable super hero idea in a medium that has become universally dominated by them, even for Stan the Man. So while there are definitely some obvious similarities between Soldier Zero and some other super heroes currently starring in monthly, serial adventures (Green Lantern and Haunt are what immediately come to mind), there is definitely a lot to like about this book. While the elements used are not new, this particular combination of them is shaping up to a great, action heavy story with an almost immeasurable amount of heart. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out as well as what we get from the other two books in the line over the next two months.
Final Verdict: 8.7 – Buy
