Previously…
When most people think of comics books they think of superheroes, not realizing that comics is a medium and not a genre. Most of the time people think of superheroes they think of white men in spandex saving people and being rewarded with praise, or in Spider-Man’s case infamy, but there are other people putting on costumes and leaping tall buildings in a single bound. People like Tyler Martin’s Mega Woman, a black woman from Atlanta who happens to be the daughter of the Greek god Zeus. The story deals with the idea of infamy and whether family ties are determined by blood or what’s in one’s heart.
Situation
Our story begins with a bit of exposition. We’re brought up to speed on the life of Keisha Carter aka Mega Woman. We learned about her upbringing and struggles to maintain a level of normalcy while becoming increasingly stronger and more powerful. The action starts with Keisha’s “father” Detective Leon Carter attempting to barricade a building, inside his “daughter” and her nemesis “Captain X” battle it out. Detective Carter has to walk a fine line here, not letting it slip that Keisha is Mega Woman and his child, all while maintaining his professionalism. Inside the building, we learn that Xavier Kind aka Captain X was put in jail by her father, the first time then Keisha her self the second time. As a result, he lost his grandmother and blames their entire family. The fight escalates and the United States military gets involved leaving the reader with one explosive cliff hanger.
Story
Martin starts us in the middle of the story, using exposition to get the backstory out of the way so that we can get to the action, I personally am not a fan of expository openings but understand the need to move forward as quickly as possible. Mega Woman’s monologing during her fight with Captain X is classic comic booking, creating a feeling of familiarity with the main character, learning of her power and the responsibility she’s placed on herself. I found it interesting that a comic about family would tackle the idea of ‘cuckolding’ though if we view this from the lens of a Greek fable its not a far fetched subject, Zeus had a lot of other guys taking care of his kids. One thing that I did and didn’t like was the fact that there were mentions of other ‘Superiors’ in the world but none of them showed up to even inquire about the massive city threatening battle taking place. I would have liked to see more from this universe in terms of other characters and locales, the story feels more epic than the reader has been shown and hopefully as it continues its larger scope will come into view.
Pictures
Mega Woman is an example of artistic synergy. Cyrus Mesarcia, Duddy Pratama, Bolagi Olaloye and Micah Myers provide Pencils, inks, colors, and letters respectively and their cohesion cannot be ignored. Sometimes having many different artists illustrating a comic book can lead to visuals that don’t work well together and may hurt the quality of an otherwise well-told story. Thankful that is not the case with Mega Woman’s artistic team. The pencils and inks are clean and the colors pop just enough without being overbearing. One of the things I love about the way this book looks is the letters specifically Mega Woman’s caption boxes, I’m a sucker for personalized superhero caption boxes. I also love Mega Woman’s suit design, no not just because it’s a little revealing, but because it invokes the motifs of other very recognizable superheroes adding to the feeling of familiarity consistent within the narrative. Even Captain X reminds me of a certain, suave hero with unbreakable skin, without being a carbon copy.
The Real
For a number one Mega Woman was pretty good, there are a few things I would have liked to see expanded but hopefully, as the story goes on that will happen.
PURCHASE
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This review was written by Ra'Chaun Rogers on behalf of Concept Moon Studios. If you enjoy his comic reviews click here for more!
