Review: INJECTION #1

INJECTION #1
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review originally appeared on Patreon.]

WRITER: Warren Ellis
ARTIST: Declan Shalvey
COLORS: Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: Fonografiks
20pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (May 2015)

Injection is a new comic book series published by Image Comics.  Injection is created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Declan Shalvey; the book is colored by Jordie Bellaire.  Ellis, Shalvey, and Bellaire were the creative team behind Marvel Comics' 2014 relaunch of its Moon Knight comic book, producing the first six issues.  According to publicity material for this series, Injection is apparently about five people who have to save the world from being too weird to support human life, a situation they apparently created.

Injection #1 opens at Sawling Hospital.  There, we meet Professor Maria Kilbride, who is being castigated by a stern older woman.  Through a flashback, we learn that Kilbride was part of something called the “Cultural Cross-Contamination Unit.”  We meet Kilbride's colleagues:  Robin Morel, Simeon Winters, Vivek Headland, and Brigid Roth.  Back to the present, it is time to start to learn how these five individuals “poisoned the 21st Century.”

At a slim 20 pages, Injection is all about set-up and vague introductions.  Am I intrigued?  Well, hell, every first issue of a Warren Ellis comic book intrigues me, but that doesn't mean I'll keep reading past the first issue.

However, I am reluctant to bail on Injection.  I was decidedly underwhelmed by the first issue of Ellis, Shalvey, and Bellaire's Moon Knight, but that turned out to be an especially enjoyable and unique reading experience.  The series actually got better and proved to be more imaginative with each issue.  Ellis and company leaving after six issues was probably a good thing; eventually, they could not have kept up that pace of originality.

Besides, whatever vagueness Ellis' story presents in Injection is topped by Shalvey and Bellaire's eye-grabbing, attention-trapping graphical storytelling.  The weird practically popped off the page in order to get inside me and to demand that I get at least one more Injection.  I would say that fans of Ellis' non-superhero work will certainly want to try an issue or two of Injection.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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