Planetary Brigade #1

It’s one of the unwritten laws of the comic book universe. If you are the most powerful and most popular superhero on the planet it’s your duty to lead an assembled group of heroes. BOOM! Studios upholds that law with their new book Planetary Brigade and they made sure to bring Keith Giffen and J.M DeMatteis along to act as judge, jury, and executioner.

For those of you who have had the chance to read Hero-Squared, Valor needs no introduction. He’s simply the most powerful and heroic super-hero in the universe, bar none. In Planetary Brigade we flash back to a time before the events in the first issue of Hero Squared and are introduced to the most amazing collection of heroes ever assembled. As the story begins we discover a serious threat from another universe is about to emerge through a new portal and several members of the Brigade are already on the scene.

For anyone who’s read comics the past twenty years, you know the team of Keith Giffen and J.M DeMatteis has always meant creative stories filled with characterization and humor. Their newest effort here is no exception. From characters like fellow heroes Third Eye and Earth Goddess to villains like the Drama Queen, both writers manage to give you some depth into who these people are in just a few short pages. That’s more than some writers will take in a six-issue arc.

Joining them in telling their tale are a host of artists including Joe Abraham (Hero Squared), Eduardo Barretto, and Mark Badger. Most of the time books with multiple artists can be something of a let down but here it seems to work well. Each artist takes over their ‘chapter’ of the story at specific times instead of at random intervals or after ‘x’ number of pages. While the transition can be something of a shock at first if you didn’t flip through before starting to read, each artist complements their chapters plot and characters quite well.

So what’s the verdict? We the people (which means me) find Planetary Brigade by Giffen, DeMatteis, and a host of artists guilty of being a damn good read. Make sure to grab a copy when it hits the stands this week.

Reviewer: Ian Ascher

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Ian Ascher is a freelance Writer/Creator -- Any publishers that would like Ian Ascher to do a review, please feel free to contact him or you can contact Ed Dukeshire on the contact page.

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