No Hero #6 – Review

By Warren Ellis (Writer), Juan Jose Ryp (Artist), and Digikore Studios (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Warren Ellis’ twisted tale about the price of being superhuman is not for the faint of heart. For those looking for something a bit on the brutal side will find a lot to like about No Hero.

The Story: Carrick has been keeping secrets from Josh. As it turns out, Josh isn’t such a fan of the truth…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: No Hero #6 is a predictable, gratuitously violent comic that’s over far too quickly and, in some ways, delivers too little, too late. Now, with that said, it’s also a comic that’s a hell of a lot of fun and a great example of how execution can make all the difference in the world when a creative team is firing on all cylinders. Make sense?

Warren Ellis manages to overcome the generic revelations about Carrick’s superhuman team by giving the razor sharp dialogue a sense of weight and scope. Carrick is written with such a wit and arrogance that it becomes easy to accept Ellis’ alternate version of history as well as the very foundation of what No Hero is all about. In addition, Josh becomes realistically distant and disappointed as the information he receives begins to sink in. And that’s when Juan Jose Ryp truly takes over.

Simply put, you haven’t seen the type of violence that Ryp delivers. It’s disturbing, it’s ridiculously over the top, and it’s downright disgusting at times. It’s also filled with impressive details and leaves quite an impression. But violence is not all Ryp can do. He’s also quite a storyteller and character artist. While Ryp’s unique panel layout occasionally makes following along a bit difficult, it’s a minor complaint when the visuals hit with such force.

Conclusion: Despite a few wonky looking scenes and a less than surprising plot twist, No Hero #6 manages to deliver almost everything I’ve been waiting for. It’s smart, it’s brutal, and it’s very entertaining.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

No Hero #5 – Review

By Warren Ellis (Writer), Juan Jose Ryp (Art), and Digikore Studios (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I really like what Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp are doing with No Hero. While the concept of a superhuman drug is nothing new, the story still manages to feel surprisingly fresh. And that’s all thanks to Ellis’ touch for taking into consideration the real world implications of something like (super drug) FX7 and Ryp’s incredibly brutal visuals.

The Story: With the media in a frenzy following the unexpected events that occurred at the press conference featured last issue, Carrick takes some advice and allows Revere to go out for a walk that doubles as public relations damage control. As it turns out, the walk offers Josh his first chance to be a hero. Welcome to The Front Line Revere…

What’s Good: The most impressive thing about No Hero #5 is how naturally it progresses Josh’s (A.K.A Revere) story. Warren Ellis does a great job of revealing both sides of the Front Line coin (public/private) through the events that conclude Josh’s transition from street vigilante to public hero. It makes for an extremely compelling read. A read that is also quite awesome to look at thanks to the impressive artwork provided by Juan Jose Ryp and Digikore studios. It successfully straddles the line between realism and a more traditional comic book style. It makes the action and gore (I dig the hallucinations) feel disturbingly grounded, yet appropriately stylized.

What’s Not So Good: For as much as I’ve enjoyed No Hero’s opening arc, the slow burn storytelling continues to be a tiny bit irritating. Five issues in and the story is still in an “introduce the characters” phase. Interesting characters though they may be, I had hoped some sort of bigger plot would have emerged by this point. Having The Front Line targeted for the past is a premise I can get behind; Ellis just hasn’t done enough with it yet.

Conclusion: No Hero is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I just hope that sooner than later, more is done to really solidify the plot that is emerging.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny