SECRET WEAPONS #0 (Valiant Entertainment, January 03, 2018 release date) “Nikki’s Story”. Writer: Eric Heisserer. Artist: Adam Pollina. Colors: David Baron. Letterer: A Larger World Studio.
I’m currently half-way through a reading of the SECRET WEAPONS trade paperback, so this one-shot story comes out at a fortuitous moment in my exploration of the comic-book work of screenwriter Eric Heisserer.
I appreciate how the Valiant editors and braintrust have developed and expanded the world of psiots beginning with HARBINGER, HARBINGER WARS and continuing through IMPERIUM, GENERATION ZERO, HARBINGER RENEGADE and SECRET WEAPONS. It’s an impressive body of work featuring some very creative writers and art teams.
I’ve also said this before, but nobody does a better job than Valiant with the credits page summaries telling new readers everything they need to know to pick up on the story. One or two paragraphs are enough to prepare readers to turn the page and become engaged in the story.
SECRET WEAPONS #0 serves two purposes: 1) It provides the background story of a main character from the mini-series, and 2) It will make new readers want to pick up the SECRET WEAPONS trade paperback to keep reading.
In addition, two story-telling devices make this an easy book to follow and add to the enjoyment: 1) Each page is composed of four wide-screen panels that allow artist Pollina more space to focus on facial expressions and body language and, 2) Each page has a calendar date in an upper left text box that shows the progression of time across one year in the life of Nikki French, a very formative year comprised of four seminal seasons:
OCTOBER 10 through MARCH 4: Discovery. Mysterious recruitment offer. High school friendships. Boyfriend. Doubts. Skeptical, strict parents. Acceptance. Decision.
HGC (Harada Global Corporation) Day 1 through Day 75: Testing. Doubts and fears. Parental rejection. Activation. Discovery phase.
Training. Disappointment.
THE WILLOWS (separate training facility for secondary psiots/rejects) Day 1 through 30: Friendships. Uncertainty. Escape.
AUGUST 17 through OCTOBER 10: Wandering around, discovering her power. Adapting. Surviving. Coming full circle to the events that begin the SECRET WEAPONS mini-series.
RATINGS
STORY: I admire the story-telling techniques utilized here. Heisserer covers a lot of ground in a single issue and manages to open up the head of his main character and let us peek inside. As the page-in-progress backup features reveal, his style is similar to Alan Moore’s in visualizing the images, describing them for the artist as well as writing all the dialogue upfront and sharing that. 3 POINTS.
ART: Some of Pollina’s better work. I like what he’s done here, and how he illustrated the writer’s intentions so well. 2 POINTS.
COVER: Simplicity, as all the SECRET WEAPONS covers have been. Not sure they give a good indication of the contents, though they are eye-catching. 1 POINT.
READ AGAIN? A second reading allowed me to further appreciate the skill on display here. 1 POINT.
RECOMMEND? Yes, pick it up - - and get the trade paperback while you’re at it. 1 POINT.
TOTAL RATING: 8 POINTS. Well above average, and worthy of your attention.
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