Open Mike Night: The Revisionist #1

The Revisionist #1

Written by: Frank Barbiere
Art by: Garry Brown
Colored by: Lauren Affe
Lettered by: Dave Sharpe

Published by: Aftershock
Cover Price: $3.99

Mike Maillaro: Aftershock continues to put out a lot of new comics.  Now like all companies, when you are pushing out this much content at a time, you are going to have a few stinkers along the way.  We had reviewed Jackpot a few weeks ago, which ended up being the first Aftershock that I have dropped (I never even picked up Dreaming Eagles).  But, more often than not, Aftershock has been putting out comics that I really want to read.  They stay away from traditional superhero stories, and have been tackling a wide variety of genres.  Revisionist is their newest launch, about a man named Martin Monroe who has been sent to repair the timeline after his father screwed it up.

The issue starts with a quick flash showing Martin doing his thing in the future, before giving us the back story.  Martin was in prison, and he seemed pretty close to getting paroled because he often acted as the prison snitch.  Some of the prisoners (and the corrupt warden) didn’t like this, so they were planning on framing him for murder and basically burying him.  But Martin gets a package from his estranged father that will allow him to escape prison and avoid a terrible future.  Martin escapes, killing the prisoner who orchestrated all this in cold blood.  He heads up to the roof of the prison and is instructed by his father to jump...and when he does, he ends up in a swirling vortex of light.

The prison break aspect of this comic was really cool.  I was expecting something a little more sci-fi (and the first few pages promises we will get there), but they did a nice job of grounding Martin in the first issue.  We get a strong sense of who he is.  A man with some morals who has made some bad decisions that he’s trying to make up for.  He seems to have mostly put killing behind him, though in the end he kills someone in cold blood, and his “future missions” seem to have him acting as a time traveling assassin.  I am really curious how this will play out.  There is a lot of potential here for some strong character work.

Mike Weaver: A really strong debut issue for this title.  A lot of characterization, not just of the main characters, but also of extras that only stop by for a few panels.  I think that the Matrix style narration of “everything in life is a lie” is a little overdone, but I can forgive that with the strength of the rest of the issue.  I like that the messages from his father are one way communication, but that his father still accurately predicts that he’s not going to put on the computer til he sees that he’s seriously in trouble.  I’m not sure how I felt about him doubling back to kill the guy that sold him out to the warden, as the narration was saying that they had a really tight window to get out of there, but I think it shows us some pretty important personality traits of the main character.

Maillaro: Yeah, killing the prisoner was definitely done as a way to show the reader what Martin was all about.  Especially because up until this point, we had no real idea that he was in prison because he killed someone and that he had developed a “no-kill code.”  Which he was willing to toss aside pretty casually. Well, okay, maybe I am being a little unfair.  Sure, this guy was responsible for Killian (a female guard Martin had become real close to).  It seems like this whole thing will be very important in terms of Martin’s “new job.”

It is also very rare that you get a hero who is willing to show that dark side, especially so early in the series.  This guy isn’t the Punisher, but he definitely has some rough edges that will come into play here.  

Weaver: If he’s hopping around in time, I assume he eventually saves Killian...or can he?  Would that paradox his entire reason to be hopping in the first place?  I hate paradoxes.

We can say no kill code all day, but when motive and means met opportunity, Martin was all in.  I don’t honestly believe he ever truly had a no kill code.

Maillaro: True, characters lie to themselves all the time.  Which always makes for some real interesting stories.  

While I did enjoy the story a lot, both books we read this week suffered from real generic art. I did like the future in the beginning of the comic, and the time portal in the end, but everything else was just kind of dull.  I get prison isn’t the most exciting of places, but still, when you have all these great deep characters, it’s nice to see them drawn in some detail. The characters were all unique enough that they didn’t run together, but I can’t help but think that someone like Steve Lieber and Steve Dillion would have kicked this book up to a whole different level.

Weaver: I generally liked the art, especially the sequences where he communicated with his father.  It reminded me of silver age telepathy stuff.

For that reason, I’m giving a 4 to the art, though I know and understand you will go lower.  I’m giving a 4 to the story too...pretty good, but didn’t really blow me away.

Maillaro: Yeah, I will match your 4 for the writing and drop the art to a 3.  It just didn’t do much for me.  It didn’t help that I read Preacher and the new Punisher series this week, and throughout this comic I kept thinking of Steve Dillon.  I am spoiled that way.  

Final Scores

Summary: Another really solid first issue from Aftershock!  We get a prison break, and hints of a massive time travel assassination plot.  The art was a little bland here, but there was still plenty to like about this one.  

Maillaro: I am going to be out of town the next two weekends.  But we should be able to squeeze in a book next week.  We could do another Rebirth issue (Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman come out)...

Weaver: I’m really interested in Aquaman.

Maillaro: Words never spoken by anyone except for maybe my wife...But, let’s do it!  It’s either that or I can drag you into the murk that Civil War II has already become….

Weaver: A thousand times no on that one.

Maillaro: You’re no fun anymore!  You dove right in on Convergence and Secret Wars last year! Of course, after that, you needed a long break from writing...hmmm….there may have been some connection….