“Have I saved a man or created Frankenstein’s Monster?”
First off I have to say, it’s cool to see John Semper Jr. writing comics. Many people who’ve grown up with the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon and loved it (like I did aside from nostalgia purposes), would have to give thanks to John Semper Jr who was the story editor and producer of that classic cartoon series. I was surprised when I first heard about the DC rebirth line and found that Semper would be writing a series for DC. When I realized he is writing the new ongoing Cyborg series, I was surprised because I would have thought that he would have chosen any other character to write. But the fact that he decided on Cyborg was interesting and made me think of the possibilities. What will be delve into? Will it be on the level of 90’s Milestone Comics? Let’s find out.
The story opens up with Cyborg fighting off a technological creature who is trying to break its way into S.T.A.R Labs to get some kind of information. As the comic progresses, it goes back and forth between the current situations in the comic, and how it mirrors elements of our protagonist’s Past childhood. It’s typical John Semper Jr who has utilized that kind of story style back in the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon. What’s most interesting about this issue is a character that narrates and monitors Cyborgs whole origin. This new Antagonist, not only has a large interest in Cyborg, he also has an interest in all the technologically based heroes such as the Metal Men, O.M.A.C, Red Tornado, Doom Patrol’s Robotman, Steel, and a few others including technological villains. Obviously, this issue is an introductory issue planting the seeds for what this series could be. It’s not a bad start. But it’s not so crazy of a comic either.
It has potential to become a great series. I’ll check out the next issue to see where the story goes. It has my interest, I just hope it delivers and maybe tackles issues with not just the with, existential Ghost in the Shell, Deus Ex, soul and machine themes, but also tackle what it’s like being a young man, who happens to be put in lifestyle that isn’t compared to Batman, or Superman. He’s just a kid who should have died from his circumstances but didn’t and is now an anchor for the Justice League. I hope Semper tackles elements of what makes Cyborg tick as a young black man, not because of the Black Lives Matter movement, but just out of the perspective of a character who isn’t often explored or fully fleshed out more to the mainstream public. He’s had somewhat of series every now and then but never had a fully successful series. Semper has a lot of work cut out for him, and I only hope he can execute the kind of story that he envisions that can compliment not just the character, but make it as interesting to readers old and new alike, who want to see characters that represent those that aren’t a default, standard color pallet.
Not to sound like some Social Justice Warrior, because that’s not the case, it’s just that very rarely have readers , especially readers of color had characters that have had a long-lasting appeal like Green Lantern John Stewart , Static Shock, Storm, Black Panther or Cyborg. Unless you’re a hardcore comic book fan, most don’t really have that many to identify with. Heck, I’m Hispanic and there are very few popular Hispanic /Latino characters that have to withstand the test of time without being sidelined into obscurity or had a short series run. As long as the characters and stories develop with proper execution, and head in an exciting direction, it could pay off and hopefully create a solid comic book run, that isn’t about a character of color, but about a superhero who deserves a real step up that elevates him in the same way that Geoff Johns did with his Aquaman run. Since Semper is gonna include all the other technological characters like the Metal Men, he’s got my attention.
The art by Paul Pelletier (Incredible Hulk, Justice League), is good. He usually does his job well in providing the necessary art needed to keep the story moving along. I hope to see this comic go in a more ambitious route. Then again, this is a first issue, so I’m probably putting up too much expectation. Either way, pick it up, read, and decide for yourself whether you want to see a character that isn’t Batman or Superman take center stage and see where it goes.
Newsdesk