The Victories #1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Michael Oeming
Artist: Michael Oeming
Colors: Nick Filardi
(Mature Read)
How fast can an innocent carriage ride turn sour? Well, in the latest offering from the mind of Michael Avon Oeming, basically at warp speed! We see a supposedly corrupt judge and his wife, as they are terrorized by a villain named the Jackal. He kills the judge, but then is attacked by a hero named Faustus. It seems that Faustus belongs to a group of heroes known as The Victories. Apparently the team has been sort of dormant lately, and the public opinion of them, the police, and just about everything else is negative, to say the least. People on television interviews don’t trust anybody, and want to blame everything from religion, government, and even the entire city itself. This causes Faustus to pause and really think about if he’s doing the right thing, or if maybe he should take things a step further.
This book has been highly anticipated, partly because of Oeming’s previous work (Thor, BPRD, The Mice Templar), and partly because of the fact that he doesn’t flood the market with substandard work. He really picks and chooses his projects well, and that is a testament to his character. Now, onto the book itself. I have to say that when I first saw that this was a “dystopian future” story, I was worried. Only because the comic book industry has seen this type of story about a thousand times in the last 20 years or so. The story was good, though, and it can’t really be compared to anything else from recent memory. Vaguely Watchmen or V for Vendetta, but only being one issue in so far, it’s difficult to draw any similarities yet. Just suffice to say that it was a solid portrayal of the hero and villain, and it definitely has a lot of upside on account of the characters’ mysterious nature and the lack of back story on them.
With the writer on art duty as well, sometimes there’s a drop off in quality in one area or another, but not in this book. Oeming’s artwork is dark and gritty, and adds to the story by making you like this city that is crawling with death and disease. It makes you feel as if there is no hope for anyone that lives in it. The colors were also nicely done, and Nick Filardi has a style that is perfect for a book like this. Cool cover, solid story, and artwork to match make this a must get from your LCS (local comic shop)! Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
If you’re not reading this book then your collection is seriously lacking! It’s not everyday a writer actually has a character make good on the the whole “I’ll rip your head off and $#@! down your neck!” threat!