Written by Mark Millar
Drawn by Pepe Larraz
Published by Image Comics
Okay I’ve been quite lax in updating this blog, and haven’t even finished reviewing some of the series’ that lead up to this book, but it’s too big for me to delay. The first issue is out, I just read it, here we go.
This is essentially the sequel to WANTED, which Mark Millar wrote in 2003. In that book we learned that superheroes and supervillains used to be real, but that back in 1986 all of the supervillains teamed up and attacked all of the superheroes at once, killing them all. Then the villains used a combination of magic and super-science to wipe out all memory of them from most of the population, while they then proceeded to run the world in secret.
Since then, Millar has written many other creator-owned titles all taking place in this same “real world.” Slowly but surely he began introducing new superhuman and supernatural beings to the world. And so the simple but brilliant premise of this series is that The Fraternity (as the secret society of supervillains calls themselves) has realized they need to nip this in the bud and kill off all of these new characters before they become a threat to them again. So they’ve trained the new NEMESIS to be their new lead assassin, and he starts by going after the latest member of Choon-He’s AMBASSADORS.
Meanwhile, Edison Crane (PRODIGY) is financing an archeological dig, in which his people have discovered the remains of King Morax’s empire from EMPRESS when he’s approached by a mystery woman who has a connection to the forgotten heroes and has been in hiding this whole time. She recruits him to help stop The Fraternity’s new plans. I’m going to call it now, if Millar’s recent work is any indication, this character will turn out to not be exactly who she says she is.
I’d say this issue is pretty new-reader friendly. Through a combination of flashbacks and dialog, the backstory is filled in rather quickly. Nevertheless, this book is clearly meant for longtime hardcore Mark Millar fans, those who have read most of his creator-owned work, as those fans will enjoy the various call-backs. We get brief scenes of Duke McQueen from STARLIGHT and Dave Lizewski from KICK ASS, one of whom is more content with his life now than the other is.
I loved Wanted when it came out (I was less than thrilled with the subsequent film adaptation, due to the many liberties it took with the source material), so it’s good to see Wesley Gibson back. When last we saw him, he was still a young man (and was fucking us in the ass), but now he’s older and appears more sophisticated (and no longer looking like Eminem), but I can tell he’ll be a formidable villain. I can’t wait to see him going head to head against Edison, Choon-He, and some of the other Millarworld heroes as this miniseries progresses.
Pepe Larraz was an excellent choice for the art in this book, his style (along with the muted tones of colorist Giovanna Niro) provokes a sense of danger on every page. This book is off to a great start!
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