Written by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber
Illustrated by Werther Dell’ederaPaul, an average working guy, finds his life upended when he’s approached by a mysterious figure who tells him he’s been chosen for a mission in the battle between good and evil–the mission is murder. Is it real or is Paul losing his mind? Written by JON HOEBER & ERICH HOEBER (Red, Battleship), produced by ALISA TAGER (Serenity) and MARC GUGGENHEIM (No Ordinary Family), with art by WERTHER DELL’EDERA (Dark Entries, Loveless) and colors by ARIANNA FLOREAN.
Last week, a comic came out much to my enjoyment, but despite all previous excitement we at the site have had towards the book, I have not heard any of the guys talking about it. When I e-mail them and tell them to read it, they either don’t respond or say they’ll “get to it.” And all I can think of is … why?
So screw them! Come with me, readers! Click behind the cut to read about the quiet awesome that was The Mission #1.
It’s always nice when you pick up a new #1 issue expecting a little and getting back a lot. In this day and age, it’s become somewhat habit to just grab new Image comics at the get go, because if their last two years are any indication they certainly are the company to beat when it comes to giving brand new creators a chance to shine with creator owned titles. It’s to that that I particularly am so surprised to hear very little about this, a book that meets all of the aforementioned requirements. So it’s with a rather pleasant disposition that I share the title with you, the reader, even if it’s a week after it’s release (so good luck tracking down this issue in advance!).
The Mission is a dark twist between comics like 100 Bullets or Preacher and Hellblazer perhaps more the film adaptation of Hellblazer, Constantine. Starring an unassuming man named Paul, we follow his story as the delivery of a death warrant to a man he does not know causes much emotional turmoil for our protagonist throughout the duration of the issue. Of course, by the time we get to the finale, we’re offered a rather visceral twist to the scenario that changes the way Paul – and vicariously, the reader – sees things. The Mission’s first outing makes for a rather solid crime comic with mythical and religious twists within, offering up some complex questions for readers to debate the moral integrity of. For Paul, a lot of his situation is derived from his faith (or lack thereof), and in doing so it allows us to question ourselves in what we’d do with the very same situation, especially given how little we know. Who is Gabriel? Is he really an Angel? And if he is, what exactly does that mean (in the larger sense of the word). We’re told that God has a plan throughout the issue and we’re simply supposed to trust, but how can you kill someone that hasn’t done anything wrong? We live in the age of widespread disbelief in a higher power due to the abundance of power and that is what this comic delivers on, all wrapped up in a nice crime/mystery-covered shell.
The first issue is rather sharp, handled by the brothers Hoeber in a very dark comedic fashion. While the comic doesn’t offer itself up as something that is truly funny in any way, the dark tones do add a twinge of humor to it. The Hoeber’s have crafted a story that feels somewhat familiar, borrowing elements in an assumed tribute to other stories within the genre/medium, while making these familiar ideas very much their own within the tale. The comic itself relies on a lot of faith from the reader, and in a sense this makes some of the inherent debates about the story ring all that much more true. The Mission specifically works because when picking up the title, it feels like something you’ve already tackled, and this is most likely a reflect on the fact that the writers mostly did movies before attempting comics. The nice thing here is that even with familiarity, there is a lot of room to grow as the story evolves and moves off in it’s own direction beyond that initial familiar point. The ending in itself is warrant enough to read beyond, effectively delivering a solid twist to our first foray into this world.
Continued belowWith Dell’edera’s art to it, the comic gets that very nice and sleek neo-noir artistic sensibilities that we’ve seen prevalent in the works of creators like Bendis and Maleev, or even Gaydos and Southbridge. The comic is full of dark overtones, and it plays very well towards the main story from an artistic point of view. The colors by Florean help to really flesh out the world, using a specific palette to help illustrate the odd bleakness of Paul’s life. It isn’t inherently a bad one, but the situation he now finds himself thrust certainly has a specific weight to it, and the tonal representation of this from the art helps to really flesh some of these ideas out to the reader in a very nice fashion. It’s a very nice looking book, and is rather on par with the artistic quality of recent Image outings in a sense that will look rather nicely when placed with your other Image comics in your collection.
There is something to be said for hidden gems, and as far as I can tell the Mission is decidedly one. It’s an absolute blast of a first issue, and one that’s incredibly unassuming upon the reader. I was absolutely hooked by the time that I got to the last page I was entirely ready for more. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who enjoys good reads thinking any differently. On top of that, the book ultimately says good things about Guggenheim’s new imprint, because with this and Halcyon as their first (albeit short) outings, it’s a rather strong debut of content from Collider and, just like Skybound, it looks like the more Image expands the better it gets.
Final Verdict: 9.3 – Buy
As an additional note, I can’t seem to find out if this is a mini-series or an ongoing. I’ll guess mini just to be safe, but either way it’s worth the buy.
