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Five Weapons #1 (of 5)
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Jimmie Robinson
Artist: Jimmie Robinson & Paul Little
Cover: Jimmie Robinson

It didn’t take long for the satisfaction of pre-ordering Five Weapons to kick in as I started reading yet another great title from Image Comics. As we’re introduced to Tyler Shainline, Robinson takes us through his first day at the Five Weapons school. A place where the world’s assassins send their kids for training in the skills they’ll need to carry on the family business. When the story opens, young Tyler is already in quite the predicament, but Robinson wants us to have some fun first with finding out what leads up to that first panel.

There is a fantastic balance of fun, humor, and just great storytelling in Five Weapons that makes it worth being on any comic reader’s shelf. Robinson introduces an interesting cast that you can take seriously while enjoying the insanity that is going on at the school. Tyler’s manipulation and observations of his peers and faculty show that he’s got motives we’ve yet to see, but it’s obvious he’s got an agenda other than impressing anyone. What was a bit unexpected was the extra layer of mystery added to the story when Robinson gives us a peek at Tyler’s parents and what prompted their decision to enroll him into the school. However, him just being a Shainline makes him a bit of a celebrity in the school since his father is a revered assassin.

The artwork is just as strong as the story, which carries the tone and feel perfectly. A definite benefit of Robinson being both artist and writer of this title. As standard as the location of the story is, it’s the character designs that really pack an extra punch when it comes to the visuals. Principle O is the first character we meet that has quite the unique look, as do most of the faculty that we’re introduced to later on. This makes them stand out even more since the students are all wearing the same school uniform, which is a pretty cool design in its simplicity. All of this coupled with Paul Little’s colors make this one very good looking story.

This is a first issue that does everything right from start to finish! Image Comics has been giving comic readers some of the best titles on the shelf right now, and Five Weapons is here to take its place among them!

Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net