Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Spectrum #1 - A Review

Hopefully you read the Spectrum #0 book that came out on Free Comic Book Day this year. Otherwise, you may find Spectrum #1 hopelessly confusing! The story continues directly from Issue #0, without any sort of summary page or explanation of what came before.

Thankfully, most of the issue focuses on a new character - pilot Cash Wayne - but the parts of the book relating to a mysterious girl called The Scion and her protector (an alien called a Neewalker) prove completely inaccessible without prior knowledge of the first issue. It's a vexing problem given that this is the first issue available for purchase and likely the first bit of exposure most readers will have to the world of Spectrum.


Thankfully, there's a great story here if you have read Spectrum #0. Cash Wayne is an instantly likeable protagonist  - a pilot of the Hal Jordan School of Heroism. The interaction between himself and Captain Raaker (the central protagonist of the series) is interesting, despite being born of a standard Leader/Lancer conflict.


The artwork is absorbing. The pencils by Jason Johnson do a fine job of establishing the futuristic setting and Johnson caricatures "stars" Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk well enough. The finishes by Sarah Stone truly make the art pop on the page, with hues of orange and lighting effects crafting a cinematic aura.

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