Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Comics Review: "PRODIGY: The Icarus Society #1" Flies So High

PRODIGY: THE ICARUS SOCIETY #1 (OF 5)
IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Matteo Buffagni
COLORS: Laura Martin
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Matteo Buffagni with David Curiel
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Bill Sienkiewicz
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2022)

Rated M / Mature

Prodigy: The Icarus Society is a new five-issue comic book miniseries produced by writer Mark Millar and artist Matteo Buffagni.  It is a sequel to the 2018-19 six-issue miniseries, Prodigy.  The Prodigy comic books focus on the adventures of the world's smartest man, who believes that he is the go-to guy when there is a global crisis to solve.

Prodigy: The Icarus Society #1 opens in Maine where a credit controller has just spontaneously exploded.  In fact, this is an entire afternoon of spontaneously exploding people in Maine  When the mayor and the governor don't know what to do, they call the Pentagon, and the Pentagon calls Edison Crane, the world's smartest man.

The person behind these explosions is the just the beginning of “The Icarus Society.”

THE LOWDOWN:  Of Mark Millar's recent Netflix comic book series, I am a huge fan of The Magic Order, but I am always thinking about Prodigy.  After reading the first series, Prodigy, I was intrigued and thrilled, and after re-reading it in trade paperback form, as Prodigy: The Evil Earth, I admired it all the more.

Millar uses Prodigy: The Icarus Society #1 to introduce readers to Edison Crane's state of mind (more or less).  Our hero is in need of a challenge.  Millar builds the issue slyly; the new threat is all around Crane, preparing to reveal itself.  At the same time, rascally Millar teases us with this idea:  doesn't it seem as if Crane is deliberately setting himself up to be challenged and abused?...

The art by Matteo Buffagni for The Icarus Society is quiet compared to Rafael Albuquerque's fast and furious storytelling in the earlier series, The Evil Earth.  Buffagni creates a story that conveys the current malaise (of Crane) and simmers with the coming menace (from the “rival” geniuses).  Colorist Laura Martin is a master of creating the varied moods of action and violence, and here, she delivers on shadowy and secretive and sudden violence.  Clem Robins does much the same, carrying the reader through the wavy flow of time and pace in this story.

I can tell from this first issue that Millar and Buffagni are going to throw everything and many kitchen sinks at us.  Prodigy: The Icarus Society reminds us that a month with at least one Mark Millar comic book is a good month, indeed.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar and of his comic book, Prodigy, will want to read Prodigy: The Icarus Society.

A

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


https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/
http://www.millarworld.tv/
https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar
https://www.netflix.com/
https://twitter.com/netflix
www.imagecomics.com
https://twitter.com/ImageComics


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Comics Review: "PRODIGY: The Evil Earth" is Wickedly Good

PRODIGY: THE EVIL EARTH
IMAGE COMICS

WRITER: Mark Millar
ARTIST: Rafael Albuquerque
COLORS: Marcelo Maiolo
LETTERS: Peter Doherty
EDITOR: Rachel Fulton
COVER: Ozgur Yildirim
MISC. ART: Rafael Albuquerque; André Araújo; Frank Quitely; Travis Charest; John Cassaday; Rafael Grampa
ISBN: 978-1-5343-1236-4; paperback (July 30, 2019)
168pp, Color, $19.99 U.S.

Rated M / Mature

Prodigy was a 2018-19, six-issue comic book miniseries produced by writer Mark Millar and artist Rafael Albuquerque.  Published by Image Comics, it was the second comic book series (following The Magic Order) that Millar produced after he sold his company, Millarworld, to Netflix.  Prodigy focuses on the world's smartest man, a fellow who believes that he is the go-to guy when there is a global crisis to solve.  In July 2019, the first Prodigy miniseries was collected in the trade paperback, Prodigy: The Evil Earth.

Prodigy: The Evil Earth opens at St. George's Hall, a prestigious high school in Massachusetts.  The story introduces 11-year-old Edison Crane, the son of a United States senator who is about to become U.S. Secretary of State.  It is 1993, and the “Inter-School Polo Cup Final” has just come to an end.  Edison is the star, “the Man of the Match,” much to the ire of some of his teammates who are high school students of actual high school age.

How he deals with those violent, bitter teammates is a hint at what Edison will become – a man who will take on any problem or challenge.  Edison can learn faster than anyone who ever lived, and there is nothing he can't do when he puts his mind to it.  He even performs open heart surgery on a classmate.

This is one of the first steps Edison will take on the road to becoming the world's smartest man who is running the world's most successful business.  But Edison Crane is not content because his brilliant mind needs constant challenge.  So he becomes the go-to guy for governments around the world when they have a problem or crisis they cannot solve.

When strange cars containing crispy critters start popping up around the world, however, Edison may finally face something that will truly challenge him.  It is a mystery that spans time from the Tower of Babel to the “Large Hadron Collider” and to an impending invasion from somewhere beyond.

THE LOWDOWN:  I am a fan of a number of Mark Millar's creator-owned comic book series, with Kick-Ass, Empress, and The Magic Order (also a Netflix title) being among my favorite.  After reading Prodigy, it became one of my favorite comic books of the last decade – period.

Prodigy Chapter One/Issue #1 is a teaser; the series' narrative really kicks off with Chapter Two.  Millar uses the first chapter to sell Edison Crane to his readers.  At first, Edison seems to have an unlikable personality, but by the end of this first chapter, dear readers, you might think Edison is a thoroughly intriguing character.  I certainly did.  Edison Crane mixes elements of Bruce Wayne/Batman, Sherlock Holmes, Marvel Comics' Karnak and Tony Stark/Iron Man, Angus MacGyver, and others that I can't think of right now.

Prodigy: The Evil Earth saw artist Rafael Albuquerque continue to transform as a comic book artist, in terms of his draftsmanship and in terms of the flair in his illustrative style.  The stylishly-drawn first chapter is among his best work.  By the end of this first volume, Albuquerque has created a vibe that mixes multiple genres:  spy thriller, secret agent adventure, mysteries, and conspiracy that made The Evil Earth unforgettable for me.  Marcelo Maiolo's bright coloring not only adds another layer of beauty to the art, but they strengthen the elements that this narrative borrows from a variety of genres and sources.

I can never get enough of Prodigy: The Evil Earth.  No matter how much you might think you have figured out Edison Crane, Mark Millar always keeps readers imagination hopping with a series of surprises and reveals.  In The Evil Earth, Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque have created a creepy masterpiece that delves into the dark crevices of civilization's cabals and confederacies, doing so at the speed of light.  And I can't stop chasing it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar's comic book will want to read Prodigy: The Evil Earth.

A

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


https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar
https://twitter.com/netflix
https://twitter.com/themagicorder
https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/
http://www.millarworld.tv/
www.imagecomics.com


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------

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Monday, July 4, 2022

BOOM! Studios Shipping from Diamond Distributors for July 6, 2022

BOOM! STUDIOS

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MAR220817 POWER RANGERS TP VOL 04 $16.99

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Dark Horse Comics Shipping from Diamond Distributors for July 6, 2022

DARK HORSE COMICS

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Dynamite Entertainment Shipping from Diamond Distributors for July 6, 2022

DYNAMITE

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Image Comics Shipping from Diamond Distributors for July 6, 2022

IMAGE COMICS

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Marvel Comics Shipping from Diamond Distributors for July 6, 2022

MARVEL COMICS

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