posted
So yesterday I was at my CBS and was thrilled to see the Infinite #1 out on the stands by Robert Kirkman (whose every work is an automatic buy for me when he starts a new project) and Rob Liefield (whose notoriety may exceed all others in this industry). As I glanced at the cover, I felt…a tinge of excitement? Here I was, buying a Liefield comic book! My first one since Brigade #3 or Bloodstryke #2 or something. I was buying it for Kirkman, sure, but still…
I got home and last night I couldn’t help it—it was the first comic book I read! I was playing into the hype much like my 12 year old self did with Youngblood #1! And the craziest part? The really crazy part?! I loved it.
Backing up a little, I’m a huge fan of Robert Kirkman, and all of you should be. If you’re not reading Walking Dead, then hand in your credentials of knowing good comics. Most of his other stuff, regardless of what genre it is, I’ve enjoyed quite a bit, like Haunt, Super Dinosaur, etc. He’s just a damn good writer.
And that is apparent here. Usually he’s a bit of a slow burn type writer, where his first arc in a series isn’t exactly over the top in terms of excellence and he builds from there. I could see a little of that. But perhaps Liefield’s influence was at play, because for some reason, I felt as if things were really moving by the end of the issue and we were getting a lot of forward momentum for one issue. I liked that.
The gist of the whole thing is in the future there is a rebellion against a future world conqueror named Imperious. Bowen, either the leader of the rebellion, or someone high-ranking in it, travels back in time to find his younger self at the start of Imperious takeover, to try to start the rebellion earlier before Imperious becomes too difficult to stop. Meanwhile, Imperious himself is from an even further point in time, traveling backwards to takeover the world to “save it”, showing he has his own complicated motives.
The usage of time travel and the obvious hints of its big complexity which will likely be revealed over time are big draws for me. Kirkman has said in interviews he’s not playing by time travel ‘rules’ used in other media and I like that—I’m hoping his usage of time travel are game-changers and not the same old thing we’ve seen before.
Bowen, the main character, and Bo, his younger self, also seem ripe for some very interesting sequences as they interact. I’m looking forward to that, and it also looks like Kirkman has many supporting characters awaiting us.
That brings me to Rob Liefield and his art. As seen in interviews, Kirkman clearly gave Rob a directive: stop running away from yourself and just go for it in terms of the things you love to do. Namely, shoulder pads, giant guns, buckles, huge pouches and other crazy uniform add-ons that became so dominant in the 90’s when every other artist tried to ape his style once his comics starting selling millions of copies. And he certainly does.
The 90’s were a long time ago. No one apes that style anymore. So seeing Liefield go back to it, and in a pretty unapologetic way, I couldn’t help but be impressed. Good for him—sticking to his guns. It was his style after all.
And there is something else I like about it. It’s exciting. There’s no knocking that. It’s totally disproportionate with unrealistic anatomies, but there is definitely a kinetic energy and excitement on the page.
Could it be? Could I be becoming a Liefield fan? I’m not sure about that, but I certainly appreciate the man has his own stylized form, just like so many other artists in the industry. And he’s got everything to prove, since he’s become an easy target for almost 20 whole years with people making fun of him and breaking his balls. I think he realizes now if he wants a legacy, he needs to start putting out new material and prove to everyone he wasn’t a flash in the pan. I have to say, I’m pretty curious as to what these next few years will be like for him.
So: writer that I love doing his thing; premise that I really like; characters that are interesting. That’s enough right there. I will certainly be getting this comic month-in and month-out. And Liefield’s artwork is actually making me feel more drawn in then less for some odd reasons.
I really enjoyed the first issue and am looking forward to the next. I wonder if others feel the same?
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Per Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool: “this one has that feel of a good Heinlein yarn with the Tom Cruise Sci-Fi Summer Blockbuster feel that Liefeld brings to the party.”
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
If you're still as enthused by the time this gets collected, I'll pick up the trade. But is Liefeld fast enough to work on both The Infinite and the DCnU Hawk & Dove book at the same time? Especially with DC's scheduling dictates... or do you think he's on H&D just to have his name on the launch and only hanging around for the first arc?
-------------------- "Anytime a good book like this is cancelled, I hope another Teen Titan is murdered." --Cobalt
"Anytime an awesome book like S6 is cancelled, I hope EVERY Titan is murdered." --Me
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
The Infinite #2 continues the trend of being delightfully fun and enjoyable! The story advances and the characters get some added depth, while the most potent thing going on is the genuine sense of superhero fun that is apparent throughout.
Kirkman spends the second issue developing the relationship between Bowen and Bo that is introduced in the first, which was welcome. A six week training period, which we only see the tail end of, furthers that aspect of the series, and makes it a focal point. While the larger cast of characters remains only hinted at (other than Case, the third part of the group), its clear Kirkman has a game plan to get to them all. The combination of the single issues having some clear advancement of the characterization with longer terms plans hinted at is nice.
Once again, I’m surprisingly delighted by Rob Liefield’s artwork. I keep expecting it to be much worse that it is; while some things are jarring (such as people’s eyes not being level sometimes), I can’t deny the sheer excitement and energy leaping off the page. And hey, I like guns, holsters, pouches, shoulder pads, swords and buckles as much as the next person! My one major complaint is the lack of backgrounds in many of the panels. This is my personal pet peeve in comics and it eventually became so annoying that I’ve taken a hiatus from finishing up the Invincible trades (which I do plan to get back to but needed a break from); its also caused me to drop comics before. That really needs to be addressed. However, its not so glaring yet that it’s a major complaint (but it could end up being so). On the opposite side of things, I do like Liefield’s skill at designing costumes and different ‘looks’ for the main characters—Bowen, Bo and Case had at least three changes of costume throughout the issue and each one looked cool.
Perhaps the best part of the issue was when I turned to the letter’s page and saw they printed an email I sent them on #1! Once again, Image Comics shows its awesomeness by printing a letter from Cobalt Kid!
In the original email, I put a part in there I said didn’t need to be printed because it might have spoilers, since I guessed the identity of the villain after just one issue. They left it out. Does that mean I was right? Maybe. What I said was:
Click Here For A Spoiler Also, I want to call it early on after one issue that Imperious is Bowen at an even older period in time (you can remove this sentence if you print this).
Still finding this surprisingly enjoyable. Not in that upper tier of Image Comics that includes Chew, Walking Dead, Morning Glories and a few others, but definitely worth the $2.99 for me.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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