Written by Max Bemis
Art by Nathan Stockman
Published by Valiant Comics
Well, wasn’t that refreshing?
We’re just two issues into Savage, and rather than some giant mystery plot with the villain, here he is just straight-up telling us his game plan.
The story picks up where Kevin “Savage” Sauvage has been abducted by some mad scientists after halting a dinosaur attack on the streets of London. At least they look like mad scientists, with the steampunk attire and all.
A handcuffed Kevin receives a tour of an underground facility full of science gear and abominations.
Real mad scientist stuff from a crew calling themselves Project Bizarre.
And who’s giving the tour?
Professor Hanley Nealon, dressed in a gold tailcoat tuxedo, red rose on the lapel. And a golden centurion helmet with some doohickeys coming off the ears that won’t figure dangerously into the story later on, I’m sure.
Nealon even presents the devil’s bargain – a portal back to the Faraway dimension and Kevin’s old life. If only he’d let Nealon experiment on his body to unlock those enhanced senses, strength and invulnerability.
We also meet another person on the Project Bizarre payroll that, as of now, is slotted into a lot of very familiar, if not tired, tropes around female characters. I hope she turns out to be a good bit more that the sketch we get here, but the setup of a genius girl and the “savage” boy is tough to turn down as a writer or reader. It’s a tale as old as time, or at least Sam and Diane on Cheers.
Then my silly mind wanders into “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)” by Pet Shop Boys when picturing them: “I’ve got the brains, you’ve got the looks / Let’s make lots of money / You’ve got the brawn, I’ve got the brains / Let’s make lots of money.”
If that song doesn’t exactly line up with Mae and Kevin’s relationship, it definitely does with Kevin and his agent/brother Henry. Is he concerned about Nealon’s plot, or is he simply ready to pivot Kevin’s celebrity from “cool story, bro” influencer to full-blown superhero?
This issue explicitly ties Kevin into the Valiant Universe of metahumans such as Ninjak and Bloodshot, so why not that plus money?
If Kevin’s trauma response wasn’t strong enough from the first issue, in this edition Kevin is run through the gauntlet of everyone he meets and knows simply wanting a piece of him for profit. He doesn’t know who he is here, or what he even wants to be, beyond survival.
As expected, he wigs out.
What will the next stage of this bildungsroman throw at Kevin in the next issue? Looking forward to it!
