Halcyon #1 – Review

By: Marc Guggenheim & Tara Butters (writers), Ryan Bodenheim (artist), Mark Englert (colors), Dave Sharpe (letters) & Aubrey Sitterson (editor)

The Story: Guggenheim & Butters begin to explore what happens when the heroes “win”.

What’s Good: There are a couple of common questions in superhero questions, such as, “Why doesn’t Batman just kill those villains since they just bust out of Arkham and cause mayhem again?” or “Are heroes causing crime by being an attractive nuisance for criminals?”  Halcyon seems to be touching on a tangent to those types of questions: What would the heroes do if there was no more crime?  Would they decide to settle down or would some of them prove to be such adrenalin junkies that they would find a way to create some crime to fight?

This issue only begins to establish the world of Halcyon.  The writers take us through introductions to the main heroes.  This series of vignettes is nicely done as each character gets a box with their name and power.  More comics need to use this technique because it is nice to know what these peoples’ names are.  The heroes are all pretty recognizable archetypes from our Marvel/DC comics, so one wonders if this is a bit of misdirection such that we will be surprised when the “Captain America dude” does something that the Marvel Cap never would.  We’ll see.  But, as the stories unfold, the heroes come to the realization that all crime is coming to a stop.  Not just super-powered crime, but also muggings, et al. Of course, this may or may not be scheme by the one super villain we meet in this issue.  It is an enticing concept and it’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

The art works.  It is serviceable and tells the story written by the writers without trying to show off and free lance.  It isn’t without its flaws (an odd looking characters here and there, sparse backgrounds), but it perfectly fine for the story.

Lettering is one of those thankless tasks where it is usually only noticeable when it is done poorly, so we try to offer praise whenever possible.  In this case Dave Shapre uses a really neat font for a scene in Pakistan that makes it 100% clear these folks are speaking a foreign language without resorting to: “<Drop your gun!!>”*       * – Translated from the original Farsi

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Strange Tales II #2 – I love anthologies and seeing a bunch of indy creators get to play with our favorite Marvel characters from different eras was a real treat.  Runners-up: Taskmaster #3 & Scarlet #3

Most Anticipated: Amazing Spider-Man #648 – This is the first issue without the rotating team of creators that have entertained us for the last several years.  It will be very interesting to see what Dan Slott will do with this title as the primary creative force.

Other picks: American Vampire #8, Unwritten #19, She-Hulks #1, Halcyon #1, Avengers Prime #3

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Superboy #1 – This week was all about Jeff Lemire, as his two ongoings were the front runners for pick of the week.  In the end though, Superboy gets it, if only for the novelty of being new.  That said, this is a great book, one that combines Lemire’s idiosyncracies and unique talents with his clear love for the DCU.  It’s a thoughtful, high-quality product, but one that’s also written by a writer whose excitement is utterly infectious.

Most Anticipated: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 – I don’t know a damned thing about the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents property beyond what the solicitation text has told me about this issue.  What I do know a lot about are the creative team of Nick Spencer and CAFU, which is a ridiculously good one.  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent’s hook is a cool one but, more than that, I’m hoping that the fact that this is a relaunch of a long dormant property will allow Spencer and CAFU a good amount of freedom, as both are very, very good at what they do.

Other Picks: Amazing Spider-Man #648, Thor #617, Chew #15, American Vampire #8, Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #6, New Avengers #6, the Unwritten #19