Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by David Mack
Published by DC Comics
Cover is one of the strangest new comic books to come along in quite some time. That might be part of the reason I like it so much.
The other reason, is because it has such a strong creative team. Brian Michael Bendis has taken another chance with his writing and the results are epic.
This story is like nothing else out there.
The concept has to do with comic creators being a part of the intelligence community.
The first issue established this crazy world and this issue delves deeper into it. In the opening scene, artist Max Field starts to learn about the secrets in the comic community from another creator.
Max was recruited from the latest comic book convention to be a part of a new adventure. He starts learning how far back the history of comic creators becoming intelligence officers goes.
Then we see more of how he got to this place.
Max didn’t get a lot of invites to international comic cons. So he decided to take the latest offer to go to Istanbul. He meets a mysterious woman named Julia just off the plane. She tells him that he is going to the show. She says that it is his “cover.” And so his life as a secret agent takes off here.
The rest of the issue follows this crazy path.
Bendis and Mack create their own rules here and it works. The concept is nutty to be sure but they never stray or change the established rules so it’s consistent. I love that. Every moment feels fresh and I have no idea where it’s going.
Sometimes, I even had to reread certain parts. I’m not even sure what was happening in them but I was so engrossed that I just went with it knowing that it’ll pay off. That’s how much I trust this creative team.
At the end of the issue, we realize that the man Max is talking to in the first scene isn’t on his side. In fact, he has Max hostage. It’s quite the ending and quite turn of events here!
The art by Mack is simply brilliant. He utilizes his multimedia art style brilliantly. The result are stunning. This is an amazing new path for both creators. And I personally cannot get enough.
RATING: A
