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Review: The Superannuated Man #1

Published

10 years ago

on

Teeming with gorgeous black and white illustrations, “The Superannuated Man” #1 is one hell of a teaser. This post apocalyptic comic takes place in an “unspecified future” in Blackwater, a seaside town that’s been overrun by mutant animals. As HE, a lone human among the insane creatures of Blackwater, lives a life of solitude in a makeshift houseboat, the mutants are facing their own unidentified threat.

the-superannuated-man-1WRITTEN BY: Ted McKeever
ART BY: Ted McKeever
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: June 4, 2013

REVIEW BY: Bree Odgen

“The Superannuated Man” is both haunting and cleverly witty. Our protagonist, HE, is exactly as the title of the comic suggests: an outdated concept. He is obsolete in this new future full of advanced mutant animals—like human-sized frogs and anthropological rhinoceroses. HE is a quirky hermit who lives on the water and snorkels around to scare the frog children who get too close. To the mutants, HE is a threat, an urban legend, a mythical beast.

Against the bleak speculative fiction backdrop of Blackwater, HE’s personality is light as a feather. Contrasted with the manically bizarre personalities of the mutants, he looks sane and well grounded—even when he carries on conversations with an inanimate man. McKeever has successfully and entertainingly made crazy look sane and insane look even crazier.

Both the beasts we explicitly see and the beasts that are merely hinted at are perfection alike. They’re so insane that they are almost funny, but more than anything they are disturbing as hell. This is just another testament of McKeever’s wild ability to round out characters like a rockstar.

My initial reaction after reading was a very firm, “The hell?” As I said, this is a teaser issue, a prologue of sorts. It’s set up to present us with a lot of questionable information without answering anything. But McKeever completely kills it regardless. It’s overwhelmingly clear that the creator, writer, and illustrator are one and the same. The written world and artistic world are woven together so tightly with the concept that although the material is confusing, it’s not confusing in a negative sense. It’s fantastically chaotic. I appreciate the fact that McKeever trusts his readers to follow along with his bold storytelling.

McKeever accomplishes something brilliant in this first issue that’s so rarely done. He really lets the art tell the story. There is a bold lack of written narrative yet the plot is heavy and detailed, impeccably constructed through the exhaustive images. “The Superannuated Man” is off to a superb start. The possibilities of this comic are endless. While the dystopian elements haunt, the fantasy elements entertain on a grand scale.

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‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

6 days ago

on

April 18, 2024

By

Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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