Advance Review: Livewire #1
Valiant’s mutants are back and this time there is no mistaking who is Queen of the psiots!
On the run from the government she once served, Livewire is pretty much out of options as she tries to regroup with those that used to be her friends. But with the stain of her previous actions affecting everyone, is there really anyone left to turn to?
This is the first issue of an ongoing series, where Valiant has been adding parts to the Livewire mythos through their psi-war and of course Secret Weapons, in which during the course, some pretty interesting characters were brought into the fold. The challenge then, is to take a series that has worked as short snap shots and elongate it into a more rounded series.
Writer Vita Ayala seems to be coming up for air from her book Submerged, to tackle superheroes, kind of. With Ayala channelling the X-Men at their most dysfunctional, she has quietly taken the seeds sown from Secret Weapons and “mutated” the ramifications into something of a tease issue. We get to see the strength of Liverwire’s powers as well as the power of her convictions. True, as she reaches out to possible friends, things do kind of take a turn for the worse, still whats a first issue without a cliffhanger? The writing is tight and for fans who love angst driven drama, the characters all react as you would probably expect, showing that Ayala has plumbed for a level of emotional realism rather than super-histrionics, with a worn down, maybe resigned type of inner monologue
Raul Allen and Patrica Martin supply the art for the book, that if I am honest at first glance, kind of looked a bit wonky in places. However, after taking time to reflect and reread the book, the art meets the necessity of the story; in part there is the emotional aspects and of course the super hero elements are also on show. With this mix of visual payoffs there is going to be a level of compromise. For example, crowd scenes can sometimes come across as flat with uninspired poses and frame works, though this is easily countered with the more action-centric panels. Speaking of panels, there is a welcome variety on show that helps to drive the reader forward as much as it does Livewire. The colors have a faded, almost worn look to them which again implies that this is real world type of affair. I would like to mention that the lettering is great as it doesn’t impact the flow of the art and carries the monologue well. Unfortunately, there is no letterer credit on the advance or on Valiant’s website.
At times, Valiant can be accused of using certain character stereotypes; the man in armour, the super rich weaponized spy, the gun tooting killing machine. This isn’t just a Valiant foible in the least, but it does strike me odd that for a company that can produce some really original characters, there may be a feeling that it needs to fall back on “that which has gone before”. Personal opinion of their business model aside, Livewire has the potential to become Valiant’s X-Men. Given that mutant fans have to put up with constant reboots, restarts and the like, maybe the quality of this book will win some new readers. As it is, I am interested in seeing how this first arc, maybe the forming of the team, plays out. No doubt, with the quality of the work seen so far, it will be quite a ride!
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; Vita Ayala
Art by; Raul Allen & Patrica Martin
Published by; Valiant Entertainment
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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