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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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The Boys #1 Review
Quote; Butcher "one day [a superhuman] might realise that what you’re really invulnerable to is your humanity." Tag; if I use the word ‘contrast’ too much, feel free to scream. I’m not afraid to come out of the closet and admit it; I was a BIG Stormwatch: Team Achilles fan. There was something about the concept of ordinary men hunting superheroes – the modern-day version of stories about lion hunting – and doing so by outthinking them…well, it got to me in places few other comics have ever done. The Boys, which explores similar themes, will probably be unable to avoid comparison; superhumans are very much a mixed blessing, particularly in Wildstorm. This fitted in well with the general Wildstorm universe; the heroes seem to have little sense of…well, proportion. The Authority, the most important and dangerous bunch, takes over the United States in one story arc; almost all of the superheroes in the Wildstorm universe make everyone who doesn’t have a Power cringe back against the wall. They have no real restraints on what they do; no one seems to deal with people like Majestic for accidental injuries…and there seems to be no way of holding them accountable for their actions. This leads neatly into the introduction of one of the major characters; the death of his friend under particularly tragic circumstances. The Boys isn’t set within the real Wildstorm universe, at least as far as we can tell, but it does touch upon similar themes to the first story arc of Stormwatch: Team Achilles. When superhumans fight, normal humans are caught in the middle…and the world seems incapable of doing anything about it. But don’t let that convince you that the story is always grim. Although there is less of an ‘in-your-face’ problem than there was in Stormwatch: Team Achilles #1, there are moments of flickering humour as Butcher – billed by the CIA as one of the world’s most dangerous men – starts to assemble his team. We are shown none of his motivations for the act – at least, not yet – but we do get the sense that he is a very dangerous man. The moments of human…vulnerability in Butcher seem to be few and far between; he seems more of a ruthless bastard than anyone else in the story so far. (And just look at his choice of dog!) It’s strange to see him [spoiler]screwing the CIA Director senseless one moment [/spoiler]– and then [spoiler]calmly negotiating with her to reopen ‘The Boys’ the next. [/spoiler] Butcher ‘s scenes are interposed with Wee Hughie’s life, contrasting them – you’ll notice that ‘contrast’ could have almost been the word for this issue. Simply because of this, the final scene in the book is almost a masterpiece of contrasts – I can’t wait for the next issue! And the artwork! I’m normally not a judge of artwork – the story should stand or fall by the writing – but this book has a very good artist; Darick Roberson. From the changes in Butcher’s face, from persuasive to hard man, to the grief and loss on Wee Hughie’s face, the artwork is almost perfect. In places, he slips from illustration to commentary, [spoiler]such as when Wee Hughie is being ‘consoled’ by the government officials, [/spoiler]but this is handled so well that it fits perfectly in with the storyline. Almost every character is perfectly drawn; their expressions are very real and chilling. He isn’t just good at people and their surroundings; he’s also good at the locations and interactions. The atmospherics of the fairground scene are brilliant; they range from joy to sorrow, using subtle contrasts rather than slapping us over the face with the change. He might have been able to get away with using the blunt methods (just this once, naturally) but it’s perfect. Contrast that to the scene at the end of the book, [spoiler] where Butcher (and Terror the Dog) and Hughie meet for the first time, [/spoiler] and you’ll see the contrast in the atmosphere. I tend to be careful about judging a series on the strength of its opening book. Some – Shadowpact, for example - are very weak in the first few issues; others, Stormwatch: Team Achilles for example, are strong. If The Boys #1 is anything to go by, however, Wildstorm has another winner on its hands. Which means it will probably be cancelled, of course. Five out of five
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