Broken Frontier

So, superheroes are getting into the information age—it was only a matter of time. Here we have the True Believers, a group of superhumans with technology-related powers who have taken on the task of bringing all sorts of secrets into the light.

The concept is unquestionably interesting. The book presents us with a chance to explore the darker side of superhumans—after all, they may be heroes, but everyone has their secrets sure enough. A group of hackers striving to expose said secrets is an interesting premise to base a story on. Perhaps, though, this raises expectations a bit too much. See, the truly interesting thing here would be to have this group root out real cover-ups in the superhero community; throwing some people off their pedestals, perhaps worse, thereby putting them into direct confrontation with the established “heroes”. The solicitation copy seemed to promise this sort of thing, but the actual execution falls a bit short. Actually, without spoiling the how of it all, it is rather disappointing given what one might have hoped for.

The series still has potential though. Issue #2 promises Mr. Fantastic's involvement in some sort of scandal, but seeing the teaser it might not be all that horribly scandalous after all. Still, we live in hope.

The tone established by the writing crosses over to the art as well: it shows some nice potential, but fails to realize it fully. There is most definitely a skilled hand at work here, but there is a degree of consistency missing. Every so often mistakes against anatomy are made, while at other times there is a lack of detail. On the other hand, there are properly executed panels aplenty where attention to detail is clearly visible. Gulacy shows his skill and competence, but he doesn't really manage to wow the reader here. His frequent use of black has something to do with that too. On the one hand it's understandable because it does suit the story, but on the other hand it occasionally feels like a cop out to make large areas entirely dark.

Because of its clear-marked potential, True Believers is a series to keep tabs on. It is by no means a bad read, though at this point it won’t blow your socks off either. If Bates and Gulacy really put their minds to it and are willing to push the limits of what they can do with this concept, it just might turn into something very special indeed. Keep an eye out for future issues.