Review: CAPTAIN KID #1

CAPTAIN KID No. 1
AFTERSHOCK COMICS – @AfterShockComix

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Mark Waid and Tom Peyer
ARTIST: Wilfredo Torres
COLORS: Kelly Fitzpatrick
LETTERS: A Larger World
COVER: Wilfredo Torres with Kelly Fitzpatrick
VARIANT COVER: Juan Doe
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2016)

Captain Kid is a new comic book created and written by Mark Waid and Tom Peyer.  It is drawn by Wilfredo Torres; colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick; and lettered by A Larger World.  The series focuses on a middle-aged man who can turn into a teenage superhero.

Captain Kid #1 (“Make it Beautiful”) opens in Red Nose, a small bar where a small group of friends have gathered for a birthday party.  Chris Vargas, a music editor at the local newspaper, is having birthday number 45.  A young woman dressed as if she were still trapped in the 1980s forces Chris to pay attention to her.  She insists that Chris has power, power they will need to stop evil.

Honestly, I am only vaguely interested in what happens in future issues of Captain Kid, a title that, at this point, does not work for this comic book.  Over the years, I have been hot and cold about Mark Waid.  When he is good, he is truly good.  When his writing is mediocre, it can be painful to read.  I guess I have previously read something written by Tom Peyer.  His name is familiar to me, but when I first saw his name on this book, I though he was the artist.

I have mixed feelings about artist Wilfredo Torres because of his work on The Shadow: Year One.  In that series, Torres' storytelling was good, but in terms of composition and design, he was... not so good and inconsistent.  I don't know what to make of Torres' art here.  I guess I feel blah about this first issue, mainly because I think a series launch needs to be stronger than Captain Kid #1 is.

I can almost feel myself identifying with Chris Vargas.  These are precarious times, especially for people in professions that are starting to look like passenger pigeons.  Hell, I know I just want to get paid, and I am no longer interested in working for the exposure.  So a strong character in Chris will make for a stronger Captain Kid.

You know, infinitely more exciting than the main story is the five-page preview of the new comic book from writer Marguerite Bennet, entitled Animosity.  I'd kill for a copy of the first issue...

[This comic book contains a five-page preview of Animosity by Marguerite Bennett and Rafael De Latorre.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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