EDITOR'S NOTE: BRZRKR is really gaining a lot of attention lately, which is not a bad thing for the comics industry as a whole. However, I'm not sure it deserves the high rated accolades that websites like Comics Roundup and others are giving the first issue. Here, we present two alternate viewpoints from reviewers for Captain Blue Hen Comics' THE 10,000 COMICS PYRAMID Facebook page. I'll weigh in with my thoughts at the end . . . . . .
Commentary from The 10,000 Comics Pyramid's MATT LOWDER . . . . .
BRZRKR #1 (Boom! Studios, March 2021)
Boom! Sci-fi action.
Extreme machismo and brutality. Underwritten. Man can't die. Punches people practically in half, through skulls, dashed jaws. Performs wild missions, then heals up. Anomaly of a man. Science can't explain it yet. Mysterious past. Only get miniscule plot by last 6 pages. Good cliffhanger though. Color good.
NOT SUBBED. NICE MEETING YOU THOUGH. 3.5 STARS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5 STARS.
Commentary from The 10,000 Comics Pyramid's DAVE WRIGHTEOUS . . . . .
BRZRKR #1 (Boom! Studios, March 2021)
Since everyone loves Keanu Reeves and he's *GASP!* doing a comic book, I'm sure people will be falling over themselves to love this. The reviews I read all sure did.
I didn't. Really didn't.
I could preview the story, but there's so damn little of it, it'd be cruel to spoil even that pittance for you, and even that is nothing you haven't seen a few hundred times over, so there's kinda nothing to give away anyway.
Ron Garney delivers the Ultra Violence cranked to 11, with gorn style shots of blood flying, eyeballs popping, bones breaking and heads exploding. I like Ron Garney a LOT, but compared to his gorgeous work on the Hulk series with Byrne or his Captain America with Waid? I truly hate to say it, but this is really bad.
I'm sure it'll sell loads of copies and be a fan fave, but I'm out. Not a good comic. Grade: D
Commentary by Pop Culture Podium's Editor, MIKE CLARKE . . . . .
BRZRKR #1 (Boom! Studios, March 2021) Written by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt. Illustrated by Ron Garney. Colored by Bill Crabtree. Lettered by Clem Robins.
This was one of those titles I opted not to pre-order when encountering it in the Previews catalog. My thoughts were that despite the involvement of Keanu Reeves, the story notes didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, and too much like things I've read plenty of. So I'm full. However, when I saw multiple copies on display with several variant covers in the comic shops I visited, the ever-present F.O.M.O. reared it's ugly head.
The first shop I visited, Maroon Hornet, under-ordered so they only had one copy left when I visited them on new release day. I didn't want to deprive some reader coming into the shop and looking for it, so I passed it up. The next shop, Captain Blue Hen, had plenty of copies. I could claim that I felt sorry for them having bought so many copies and dedicated so much shelf space to just one title, but I'd be lying. Yeah, I bit on the FOMO fears.
While I don't regret buying this, after reading Issue #1 my conclusion is that I agree more with Matt and Dave rather than the other website reviews and also that my initial thoughts on this were pretty spot-on. However, to be fair I'm going to give it a second read before sharing any more of my opinion. This should only take a few minutes, be right back . . . . . . . .
The best thing here is the art. I don't think that it is Ron Garney's fault that this is so bloody and violent. He's just illustrating the script/descriptions that he was given. He seems to have altered his traditional style a bit for this one, sort of a mix between Sin City-era Frank Miller and the blocky style John Romita Jr utilized on his Spider-Man work. I like it.
The story is one that I've read before and owes a lot to Valiant in my opinion, especially Eternal Warrior and Bloodshot. The main character isn't given a name in Issue #1, except for "son" and "kid". We learn by the end that he's an immortal, dating back 84,000 years to caveman days. But he's been modified a bit by nanotechnology or some magical biology to repair him after battles.
He seeks mortality, so he's conflicted. I'm going to call him Mr. Brzrkr. He resembles Keanu Reeves on purpose, and this reads like John Wick without so much reliance on the guns and more on his fists, which can punch clean through a face or body, rip out a heart or a bone and beat someone else with it, when he's not ripping limbs off. There's so much violent battle here and not much else.
Sorry if I spoiled it for you. It only takes a sentence or two to tell all. This is going to run for 12 issues? I'm definitely not signing up for this. You've got to show me more than page after page of punching. I'll get numb.
BRZRKR would make a much better movie than a comic book. The entire first issue reads like the opening ten minutes of a B-grade action movie. The difference is the movie plays out across two hours or more. The comic forces us to wait one month to find out what happens in minute # 11. To make a successful action comic, the story has to be tighter and the pacing much faster. You can't use all the pages to tell just one short sequence. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Good composite review here.
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