Emma is a highly intelligent and resourceful teenager who has just started at a new and expensive private school, and her life is about to be turned completely upside down.
Cover by Alex MaleevWritten by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Alex Maleev
Colored by Ian Herring
Lettered by Joshua ReedEmma is the product of a secret life that she has never known. She has always had questions and even feelings that her birth parents may not have been the best people, but at the beginning of her first class, on her first day at a new prestigious private school that she worked very hard to get into; she is about to have the shock of a lifetime.
This is the kind of comic that really benefits from knowing as little about it as possible before going in, so I will do my best to keep spoilers to a minimum and only if context calls for them. Unfortunately most sites promoting the book, even Dark Horse Comics themselves are spoiling initial twists and turns in their summaries. Right from the start the script makes it clear that there is something different about Emma. She is not afraid to speak her mind in class, she is aggressive in a way that speaks to her nature. She suffers no fools and is just fine on her own. Unfortunately for her, her entire life is about to get turned upside down when a pair of men, claiming to be FBI agents, storm into her classroom and arrest her without a flash of a badge, a warrant, or even a reason for the arrest. It is all shady to everyone in the room, but notably, while she has no idea what is going on, Emma can see it’s all b.s. and questions the men repeatedly before reaching their destination. The house of a man who has all of the answers Emma has always been searching for, and a whole lot of grief and pain along with them.
Written by comics superstar Brian Michael Bendis, most famous for his work at Marvel with his long runs on many of the major titles, has long dabbled in horror, sci-fi, and other sub-genres, and this is an excellent start to a mash-up of many of them. With “Masterpiece,” Bendis, in a way brings together his layered writing style to this insane mystery of career criminals, eccentric billionaires, tech wizzes, and vigilantes (?). With each page the writing masterfully while economically sets the stage and lets us in to each answer and mounting element of mystery in almost a stagger effect in a push and pull of story telling and world building. Right from the start it is a fascinating feeling that many good and great writers can achieve. Sometimes the feeling can be too obvious and feel gimmicky, but this always feels natural with a touch of heightened reality. Which really is a perfect blend for this kind of story and it works beautifully here. It also helps to have an illustrator and colorist like Alex Maleev and Ian Herring on the creative team.
Their work in fleshing out this world is a major part of what allows Bendis’s writing to have the life that it does. All three works coming together is what comic books are all about. There is no narrative disconnect with this premiere issue, it all ebbs and flows as it should and I found myself really feeling the story with the turn of each page and as my eyes moved from panel to panel. And with that I was loving this story and the comic as a whole more and more as it went along. This team are not only crafting a wild and expansive mystery that spans decades and ideas, but they are making a comic that feels organic in a way that speaks to readers of all types. They have made living, breathing people that exist within this bizarre and, frankly, unrealistic plot, who feel real. They know this is all nuts, like we do.
Maleev’s artwork is as good as ever, possibly one of the best books I have seen from him. The characters look and feel like real people while still allowing for some of what makes a comic like this look and act like it exists in a world just to the left of our own. There is plenty of realism, but it has this vibe that says – we can get heist masterminds, spies, and superheroes into this if we so choose. And having Herring on the colors just adds to that feeling. An artist who has a special touch of wild color palettes and heavy shadows who has brought all of that to the books like various Marvel and DC superhero titles, as well as his fair share of sci-fi and fantasy books. Being that “Masterpiece,” in its own way is an amalgamation of a lot of what makes those types of books tick, Herring is one of maybe a handful of colorists that make perfect sense to be on a series of this nature. He and Maleev are a perfect fit for it, and for each other.
As for “Masterpiece” as a comic, what more is there to say without ruining the surprise for you? It’s a fantastic little yarn with characters who may or may not be likable at any level, but are relatable in various ways, and make for nothing short of a truly fascinating read. This is going to be a fun puzzle to follow along with because, as I see it now, I don’t think I’ll be getting ahead of Bendis with this one.
Final Verdict: 9.0, Once the mystery of “Masterpiece” #1 has its hooks in you, you’ll be hard-pressed to put it down.
