Published by Vanbreed Studios

Here’s another comic that I picked up on impulse. I’d never heard of it before, but it was just .99 cents, and it had a Black man on the cover so…here ya go!

Big Zeke is a superhero in the vein of 70’s blaxploitation action heroes and early comic-bok superheroes, like Shaft and Power Man/Luke Cage. He’s muscular, but I can’t tell if he’s meant to have super-strength, or if he’s just a naturally strong man, and he’s tough, but it’s not clear if he’s invulnerable. The only clear powers that he has is a limited form of gravity control, specifically he can increase or decrease the gravity of objects, making them lighter or heavier.

There are two 6-page stories in this issue. First up is BEGINNINGS, written by Allen Cordrey, drawn by Cory Hamscher, and colored by Ross Hughes. This show’s Zeke’s debut as a hero, although it doesn’t really give us much background on him. Taking place in 1976 in Detroit Michigan, Zeke lives with his adult sister in an apartment. When a giant robot begins attacking the city, his sister alerts Zeke, helps him pick out a costume to put on and the drives him downtown to wear the robot is. After a quick but decisive battle Zeke defeats the robot and a TV reporter rushes to him to interview him. His sister joins him and declares to the world that Zeke is a new superhero named All-American Brother.

RED MENACE! written by Ron Marz, drawn by Darryl Banks (pencils) and Terry Austin (inks), also colored by Ross Hughes. This issue begins with Zeke in the middle of another battle, fighting a Russian supervillain named Tunguska who’s wearing a high-tech suit of armor, while his sister shouts instructions from the sidelines.

So both stories are short and pretty much non-stop action. Also both end on cliffhangers, which I’m purposely refraining from spoiling. But clearly this is just the beginning for this character. I’d like to know more, like how he got his powers, and why he’s calling himself All-American Brother in the stories but the title of the book is Big Zeke. The artists on the book do a good job of emulating a retro-style, making this feel like a book from the 70’s, but it’s more like an homage than an outright parody. Overall this is just a fun little book that I think many comic-book fans will enjoy.

Vanbreed Studios Presents Vol. 1: Big Zeke: Beginnings