Broken Frontier

The Man of Steel meets the World’s Mightiest Mortal for the first time in this miniseries chronicling an early case shared by the two.

It is shortly after the dawn of the "new heroic age." The citizens of Metropolis have learned to believe in the impossible after the recent debut of Superman. And in Fawcett City, another brightly clad champion has appeared with a crack of thunder, a young man named Captain Marvel. While a mysterious cult of thieves unleashes mystical creatures against Superman, Cap must contend with an attack by towering robots constructed by his enemy, Dr. Sivana. As the wizard Shazam watches impassively from the Rock of Eternity, he knows that the fates of these two heroes will soon become intertwined.

"Year One" style stories have proven to be a popular convention for DC, detailing important events in their characters’ histories that have not been fully expanded upon. Following in that tradition, First Thunder #1 is a decent beginning but one that shows both promise and a few kinks. On the one hand, Winick’s script displays his trademark irreverent and witty dialogue, a particular highlight being a debate between Sivana and his right hand man over the doctor’s opinion of Lex Luthor. There are a few interesting concepts at work, such as the enigmatic cultists and a friend of Billy Batson who is in on his secret (though after the "Hush" debacle in Batman, I halfway fear that previously unmentioned best friends will turn out to be evil masterminds in disguise). Also, I found the reversal of Superman facing the forces of magic while Captain Marvel combats scientific abominations to be a nice contrast and a reversal of their usual M.O.

That said, there are a handful of distracting elements that show the story could use perhaps a bit more fine tuning. While Winick’s dialogue is mostly strong, I felt a few moments were lapsing into occasional cliché. Seemingly every giant monster in comics prompts the immortal response of "So fast! How could anything so huge move that (quick)?" I was also surprised by how long ago this story was set, despite Billy Batson remaining only 16 years old or so in the present. It seems like the kid ought to be much older if he predates as many other characters as this issue claims. Logic and superhero timelines have always been merely casual acquaintances, I suppose. In the end, this is an over-analytical fanboy complaint but one that nagged at me a little nonetheless.

Ultimately, whatever the faults of Winick’s story, the true star here is the art of Joshua Middleton. The spaciousness of the images, the sleek smoothness of surfaces and planes, and the almost luminous use of color gave the illustrations in this issue a surrealistic and dynamic look. It’s a style that may take the average comic fan a moment to adjust to but it most definitely lent the story a distinguishing sense of design. I was reminded of Adrian Alphona’s work on Marvel’s Runaways, a sort of lovechild of manga and superhero art, without the more obnoxious shorthand that such a blending sometimes produces.

Though a slightly mixed bag (at least to a detail-oriented reader), First Thunder shows potential for a classic superhero team-up.