DARK HORSE COMICS/Disney Comics – @DarkHorseComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
SCRIPT: Christos Gage; Landry Q. Walker
LAYOUT: Emilio Urbano
PENCILS: Gurihiru; J. Bone; Andrea Greppi
INKS: Gurihiru; J. Bone; Roberta Zanotta
COLORS: Gurihiru; Dan Jackson; Angela Capolupo
LETTERS: Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt; Chris Dickey
EDITOR: Freddye Miller
COVER: Gurihiru
VARIANT COVER: J. Bone with Dan Jackson
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2018)
Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles is a 2004 computer-animated film written and directed by Brad Bird. The Oscar-winning film focuses on the Parr Family, a family blessed with super-powers, as they unite to face a vengeful foe. This year saw the release of the long-awaited sequel film, Incredibles 2, also written and directed by Brad Bird.
The nominal head of the family is husband and father, Bob Parr, a.k.a. "Mr. Incredible," whose powers include “mega-strength and invulnerability.” Wife and mother, Helen, a.k.a. “Elastigirl,” has the power to bend, stretch and twist into any form. Eldest child and only daughter, Violet, has the power to become invisible and to create force fields. Son and middle child, Dashiell, a.k.a. “Dash,” has the power of super-speed. Baby and eventually toddler son, Jack-Jack Parr, is a polymorph and has an array of powers, some of which have not yet been revealed.
The Parrs are the superhero team, The Incredibles, with the parents portrayed as being middle-aged and having been superheroes since they were at least in their twenties. Lucius Best, a.k.a. “Frozone,” is Bob's best friend and a superhero with the power to freeze water and ambient moisture in the air into various shapes and forms – from a small ball of ice to huge sheets of ice.
Dark Horse Comics published a four-issue comic book adaptation of the first film as The Incredibles (2004). In 2009, BOOM! Studios published a four-issue miniseries, The Incredibles: Family Matters #0-3. BOOM decided to make The Incredibles an ongoing series that began with the issue #4, and the series continued into 2010 before ending with issue #15.
The Incredibles return to comic books this year (2018) via Dark Horse Comics with the new three-issue miniseries, Incredibles 2: Crisis in Mid-Life! & Other Stories. [This is not a comic book adaptation of the film, Incredibles 2.] The main story, “Crisis in Mid-Life!” is written by Christos Gage; drawn and colored by Gurihiru; and lettered by Jimmy Betancourt.
Incredibles 2: Crisis in Mid-Life! & Other Stories #1 opens with Mr. Incredible receiving an honor he once did as a much younger superhero. This time the ceremony ends with decidedly different results. So now, it is time for a midlife crisis, but Bob Parr takes it in stride and initiates a plan to pass his super-heroing knowledge and skills onto the next generations – his kids Violet and Dash!
Also, Bob's silly bedtime story (with some fibbing) for Jack-Jack turns into the beginning of a true story for Violet and Dash in “Bedtime Story.” “In a Relaxing Day at the Park,” Jack-Jack comes to the rescue of a fellow toddler who is in distress, while Papa Parr gets some rest.
The respective creative teams on the three stories in Incredibles 2: Crisis in Mid-Life! & Other Stories #1 do such good jobs that I hope publishing Incredibles comic books will be a long-term project for Dark Horse Comics. Christos Cage captures the spirit of the Incredibles films and the personalities of the characters in his two stories (“Crisis in Mid-Life!” and “Bedtime Story”). Landry Q. Walker reproduces the magic that is Jack-Jack in the vignette “A Relaxing Day at the Park.”
The artists and colorists each present their own unique take on the visual and graphical elements of the Incredibles, but stay true to the look of the films. Letterers Jimmy Betancourt and Chris Dickey deliver fonts that recall the lettering in classic 1960s Marvel Comics titles.
I have been careful in this review to be vague about many details of the stories contained in the first issue, but trust me, dear readers, Incredibles 2: Crisis in Mid-Life! & Other Stories #1 is true Incredibles. Hopefully, this comic book will become the standard of what it means to be a true Incredibles comic book.
9 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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