Blog

BOOM! Studios and Stan Lee have partnered up to release three brand new comics, each with their own brand new creative teams. The Traveler, written by Mark Waid and drawn by Chad Hardin, boasts a top tier creative team and a pretty cool new character.

The Traveler

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Chad Hardin
Colors: Blond
Cover: Various

For the last couple years, when you hear that Stan Lee is attached to something other than at Marvel, you tend to kind of ignore it. Ideas like Stripperella or a superhero show starring Ringo Starr of the Beatles tend to fall by the wayside, because they seem like cash grabs, or fans simply are not willing to try new things. When I saw the covers and creative teams for these brand new books being released by ol’ Stan and BOOM!, I just knew I had to check them out. Old habits be damned.

The Traveler is the second release by BOOM! Studios, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Our hero, dubbed “Kronus” by one of the civilians that he saves, is full of mystery. A pretty sarcastic time-bender, who seemingly pops out of nowhere to fend off the “Split-Second Men” at just the right time. The Split-Second Men control the fundamental forces of the universe, and Kronus is there to stop them at every turn. A lot of this first issue introduces the villains, a bit of our hero’s powers, and how the public is reacting to his sudden appearance.

Chad Hardin did a great job with the art in this issue. The characters were clean, and a lot of the environmental damage and use was great. One of the first things I fell in love with was the look of Kronus. I don’t know what it is exactly, but the color of his costume and its look really hooked me. Blond, the colorist, did a really good job with making a lot of the scenes “pop” when they were supposed to. Whether on a construction site or in the sewer, you know where the characters are. The only criticism I have for the art was the fact that sometimes it was hard to tell exactly what Kronus’s powers were doing. For instance, when Kronus first appears he freezes a couple steel beams in time. If it wasn’t for Kronus telling us that though, I wouldn’t be able to tell what exactly was going on. I hope with a bit more time, Hardin will get that part of the book down.

Mark Waid has taken what we all know and love about comics and turned it into a great first issue for The Traveler. With Kronus, our sarcastic hero, he mixed a lot of humor and compassion into the dialog. This creates a good relationship between readers, because it’s not bland, and evokes emotion. There is also a good measure of super heroics. There are a couple battles between Kronus and the Split-Second Men, with various powers being used. Kronus also has some intrigue behind him. A lot of the time he seems like a confident hero, but there were a few snippets where he seemed like a guy dealing with some inner demons. Readers were definitely left with some questions that need to be answered.

There are not a whole lot of time travel heroes out there, so The Traveler will really resonate with fans of Hiro Nakamura or Rip Hunter. I can’t stop mentioning how much I feel Waid did a good job with making this a complete piece. He really rolled everything we love into one great issue. Hardin’s art and Blond’s colors were a great compliment to what can easily be one of the better superhero reads out there. I am really looking forward to all of BOOM! and Stan’s work, and hope that these series will last.

Mike Parente
mike@comicattack.net