Comics Review: "U & I #1" is Crazy, Sexy, Cool

U & I #1

AWA STUDIOS

STORY: J. Michael Straczynski

ART: Mike Choi

COLORS: Mike Choi

LETTERS: Sal Cipriano

COVER: Mike Choi

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Mike Deodato, Jr. with Lee Loughridge; Mike Deodato, Jr.

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2024)

Rating: Teen+

The Resistance created by J. Michael Straczynski, Mike Deodato, Jr., and Frank Martin

U & I is a new six-issue comic book miniseries written by J. Michael Straczynski and drawn and colored by Mike Choi.  It is the ninth entry in “The Resistance” universe that began with the 2020 six-issue miniseries, The Resistance.  U & I focuses on an unlikely romance between two new “Reborns.”  Letterer Sal Cipriano completes the series creative team.

U & I #1 opens in a world in which humanity is still dealing with the “Great Death” (“Big Death”), the planetary pandemic that killed 400 million people.  It also caused the emergence of over ten million people called “Reborns.”  They survived the pandemic and gained superhuman powers.

The series introduces U, a young man who can heal his body of the most serious wounds and grievous injuries.  Today, he will play the hero and save a woman from dangerous mobster hit men.

Then, there is Isabelle.  The government believes that she is hiding her powers, but she came out of the “Big Death” better, but seemingly without powers.  Still, the government is discriminating against Isabelle, and she is left hungry, homeless, and hopeless after her father's brother – her lowdown uncle – refuses to release her inheritance.

How will fate bring U and Isabelle together?

THE LOWDOWN:  AWA Studios' marketing has been providing me with PDF review copies of their comic book publications since April 2023.  U & I #1 is one of the latest.

I have not read any of the comic books in “The Resistance” franchise.  I wasn't on AWA's review list during the release of those publications.  After reading U & I #1, I do want to read more.  Why, you ask?  This is another excellent J. Michael Straczynski-written comic book.  The flashbacks are riveting, and the present day segments have firmly taken hold of my imagination.

I love Mike Choi's Frank Quitely-like compositions.  Choi captures the exhilaration and mystery that surrounds U, while establishing the trials and tribulations of Isabelle.  Choi's dazzling colors are a vivid signal to the reader's imagination, while Sal Cipriano's classic-style lettering conveys the futurism and possibilities of this narrative.

U & I #1 is yet another superb AWA Studios debut, and it promises that this series will be another winner from the publisher.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the comic books of J. Michael Straczynski will want to try U & I.

A

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

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