Broken Frontier

Two old college roommates have been separated since graduation. John has become your typical corporate drone, unhappy with his job, directionless and wondering where his dreams went. Teddy, on the other hand, has completely turned his life around. He has found direction. Now he and a mysterious benefactor must decide whether or not John is worthy of the same change.

Lots of new comics start up every year. Working in a shop, I can tell you that there is just about always at least one number one issue a week. Yet only a select few ever see the 400^th or 500^th. Heck, these days getting past the twenties can be a challenge. There is a reason for this. With all these new characters, they have to excite like Superman or Spider-Man did the first time. Even from their respective eras, those kinds of characters able to stand the test of time are quite special. Not everyone can think up the super powerful alien who just wants to be human or can be the first to make the nerdy teenager the hero.

It becomes the writer’s job to make you care about a new character. Powers does a great job here of setting up two very interesting characters, showing their relationship from the past and getting the reader to wonder what happened in between. His dialogue is strong and believable. In fact, I would call his dialogue excellent. It is some of the best I have read this year. John and Teddy talk like real people, even if their names and situations may be a little cliche. This is really a feat that is uncommon in comics.

As special as the characterization and dialogue are here, there is one other element that makes a comic able to keep trucking. There has to be a hook. When Kirkman started up his two most famous comics, he found neat hooks. Invincible gave us an instant legacy character and then tore us to pieces as we found out that his father was a villain. The Walking Dead not only started the Zombie craze, but revolutionized it at the same time, by daring to be about people as opposed to Zombies.

There is a great idea here. Well, at least in the solicitations. Seems John is going to be offered a drug that will enable him to not need sleep, to give him energy he never imagined, and to allow him to live life to the fullest. Of course, there is a hitch and it is of the conspiracy type. None of this great idea is in the book. Instead we get some Tyler Durden type moments with Teddy and a lot of vague skirting the issue. This can work to be intriguing and at 99 cents, you are hard pressed to fault a book for relying too much on solid characterization. They do want you back for the main course.

Next is the art of McManus and John. These guys have made a solid looking book. They maybe have a problem with exaggerated noses, but the book looks good. Using a camera scope in the opening page makes the reader think something else entirely is going on and helps the script grab you and read to the finish. They also do a good job making plump college Teddy and rich and mysteriously fit older Teddy look like they could be the same guy. It is a cartoon realistic style that works to the books benefit, providing a package as pleasant to look at as it is skillfully written.

The problem is in the post Black Summer world, fans kind of want a lot of bang for their buck. Here’s hoping that unlike that book, this one builds to a crescendo instead of playing out its best ideas right from the get go. This one is tentatively going on the pull list.