EDITOR'S NOTE: DOCTOR TOMORROW writer Alejandro Arbona will be a guest at CAPTAIN BLUE HEN COMICS in Newark, DE on Wednesday, February 19 from 3 - 5 p.m. as part of the Valiant-ines Day event at the local comic shop.
DOCTOR TOMORROW #1 (Valiant Entertainment, February 19 release date) Writer: Alejandro Arbona. Artist: Jim Towe. Colors: Diego Rodriguez. Letters: Clayton Cowles.
The advance preview pages and pre-order solicitations in the Previews catalog and website didn’t exactly click with my interests. After scanning the information, I concluded that this book was targeting a different audience than myself.
Still, I remained curious considering that DOCTOR TOMORROW is a Valiant title - - and they have a reputation for good story-telling and art. While it looked like a teen super-hero book, I wondered what kind of spin Valiant’s creative team might put on it.
I was fortunate enough to receive a digital preview of Issue #1 so I can share my thoughts with you . . . . . . .
Yes, it is a teen super-hero book. Doctor Tomorrow’s costume reminds me of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s original version of Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics). I actually liked that costume, because the image told readers exactly who Captain Marvel was (back then) - - an alien space man. In addition, the storyline reminds me of another 1976 Marvel character — Richard Rider, The Man Called NOVA.
DOCTOR TOMORROW #1 opens up with a battle scene, where Doctor Tomorrow is apparently directing the efforts of a large group of Valiant heroes in battle against a powerful villain called Hadrian (who apparently is an energy incubator). The rest of the issue provides the background story and leads into how the conflict began (to be resolved in a future issue).
Main character Bart Simms is a likable teen, although his life seems filled with loneliness (living with his single parent father, whose work takes him out of town) and self-doubt. He takes out his bottled-up aggression (except when taunted) on the baseball diamond where he works hard at becoming a power hitter. His best friend is Gretchen, who supports him and offers parental advice.
Doctor Tomorrow is a older, future version of Bart Simms from a parallel universe who recruits his assistance. Whether this upcoming battle takes place in Bart’s world or Tomorrow’s universe remains to be told.
Not a bad debut considering my reservations. I’m curious enough to be interested in seeing where this is going for a few issues before I make my final judgment.
STORY: 2 POINTS.
ART: A clean, crisp style that really shines in the bigger panels. 2 POINTS
COVER: You can tell what kind of book this will be from the character image. Truth in advertising. 1.5 POINTS
READ AGAIN? Worth a return trip. 1 POINT.
RECOMMEND? I’d need to see where this is going before I give it an endorsement. But it’s promising so far. 0.5 POINT.
TOTAL RATING: 7 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10 POINTS. A LITTLE BETTER THAN AVERAGE. READERS’ CHOICE.
No comments:
Post a Comment