IMAGE COMICS/BENAROYA PUBLISHING
CREATORS: Michael Benaroya and Jeff Cahn
SCRIPT: Jeff Cahn
ARTISTS: Salvador Navarro and Mark Texeira
COLORS: Ifansyah Noor of Imaginary Friends Studios
LETTERS: John Aitken
COVER: Mark Texeira
28pp, Color, $2.99
My introduction to the comic books of Benaroya Publishing continues with Red Spike, created by Michael Benaroya and Jeff Cahn. Red Spike, a science fiction and action comic book miniseries, follows a group of people involved with Red Spike, a black ops program. Red Spike is a system that exposes young men to chemicals and brain surgery that turns them into super-soldiers. It’s an interesting concept.
As Red Spike #3 begins, readers get back story on the good-boy super-soldier, Matt Cutler. Colonel Moyer, who controls Red Spike, sends Matt on a mission to bring in Greg Dane, who entered the program with Cutler. Dane has gone rogue and is determined not to be brought back to Red Spike. Meanwhile, Dr. Margaret Downey, a scientist in the program, begins to investigate why Greg rebelled.
While it seems to borrow from other comic books and even movies, Red Spike has the kind of rock solid plotting found in tightly-written, big-budget action movies. Red Spike has elements of Captain American and the Jason Bourne films, but it most reminds me of Universal Soldier, the 1992 Van Damme film. Like the Van Damme films from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, Red Spike is violent and testosterone-filled, but with a humanist lead character who fights because he must. This comic book would be nothing but a hoary cliché, if not for the storytelling. Jeff Cahn’s scriptwriting is patient, and that shows in a well-thought out plot and script.
The art by Salvador Navarro and Mark Texeira (I’m not sure who does what) is acceptable in that it tells the story. Other than that, it is mediocre – stiff figure drawing, unimaginative compositions, and bland page design. I found the story quite likeable, but the uninspired art put a damper on my enjoyment.
B
