Thursday, August 29, 2024

"Jenny Sparks," #1 is an Odd but Engrossing First Issue

For the first 2/3 of this comic, I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. We seemed to jump between Jenny Sparks, a superhero running amock, and a number of random people who didn't appear to relate to the story much (at first). Tom King is a stellar writer, however, so by the issue's end it started to click into place. Plus, it helps that Jeff Spokes is a great artist so the issue looked fantastic throughout even while it was a bit (initially) confusing.

This comic seems to be loosely related to earlier, "Authority," stories but doesn't require we have knowledge of them to follow along with this story well. The gist of things is that when a hero goes off the rails the other heroic folks call Jenny Sparks. Perhaps this is because it would look bad if Batman or Superman were spotted taking down one of their own--it isn't quite made clear--but Captain Atom is killing people randomly and seems to have gone quite mad, so Jenny Sparks is on the case. The comic cuts between Jenny, Captain Atom, and brief moments with the assorted folks who don't seem to tie in with the main story at all, but then as we reach the conclusion of the issue it all syncs up wonderfully--you just have got to be patient as you read this debut issue.

Why Jenny Sparks is alive in 2024, what exactly her arrangement is with the other heroes, and why Captian Atom is killing people are all still a mystery, but with Tom King and Jeff Spokes at the wheel, I'm excited to see where this metaphorical story-bus takes us for this mini-series.

4 out of 5 Stars.

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