Written by Stephane Bedbeter
Illustrated by Stephan Bervaus
Published by Titan Comics
This book has been described in the press as “Escape From New York Meets The X-Men.”
It’s not far off except it seemed more like a take on the Fantastic Four than anything. Hell, the villain even seemed like a Doctor Doom rip-off.
That being said, this book isn’t terrible. It was an okay read throughout that is not to be taken too seriously.
In this book, the city of Detroit has succeeded from the United States. A villain has taken control of the city! All hope seems lost in this crazy place.
That’s where the four superpowered children come in.
At the start of the book, they look like they are heading into a trap launched by the city’s villain.
The set up is intense and exciting. Bedbeter does a decent enough job of starting the book off right. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go much beyond that.
The rest of the story is a cat and mouse game between the kids and the villain. The children all have psychic powers it seems. Problem is, when they use their powers, they age. It makes them use their powers very sparingly to say the least.
The four kids are all interchangeable. There isn’t really anything to tell them apart. The dialogue doesn’t help as it doesn’t have much in the way of forward momentum or character development. So, the writing could be better, especially because not much actually happens in the issue beyond what I described. Especially at over fifty pages!
The art is the best part. It’s expressive and it’s clean. I love the design work too except for the kids, who look too darn creepy for me. All in all, it’s a book that doesn’t make much in the way of choices story wise. But the art will make you stick with it. It may even make you skip reading the words, especially if bored.
RATING: C
