‘BRZRKR’ (series review)

Written by Keanu Reeves & Matt Kindt
Artist by  Ron Garney
Cover Artist by Rafael Grampá
Published by BOOM! Studios

There has been a small movement recently of Hollywood stars coming to comics to create new characters. Wesley Snipes has done it as well as Oscar Isaac. The results are interesting, if not always memorable.

That being said, the gold standard of this kind of comic book has arrived. Keanu Reeves has teamed up with writer Matt Kindt and artist Ron Garney to create one of the best comics in the last few years.

A lot of that comes from Reeves himself.

Rather than just be a “name” who may throw a few ideas and allows his likeness for the comics, Reeves is involved as a true collaborator. Reeves is in the trenches, co-writing with Matt Kindt, telling the story of B.

B (short for Berzerker) who is an immortal who has been fighting through the centuries.

We get to see many of those “lives” that B has lived. All of them has led to violence in one way or another. B has then signed up with the United States government to go on missions. He does this so the government can research his past to find a way to end his life finally.

With the help of Dr. Caldwell and his team, we get to find out B’s real name is Unute. Caldwell starts to delve deeper into his past as the series progresses. As he does, we get to see that Dr. Caldwell may have an ulterior motive in mind. It might be one too that using Unute’s powers for a more devious and evil purpose.

The writing of this series gives artist Ron Garney a chance to do his best artwork to date. Garney knows his stuff. He can make the action scenes incredibly clear, but also extremely violent. He can also handle the dramatic scenes with ease as well, nailing all of the varied tones in the book.

For their part, Reeves and Kindt write a very violent book that is also somehow very soulful. They really take some big risks while telling their story and they land them all. The book takes some familiar tropes and the creative team does a great job of turning them on their heads. It makes for an entertaining reading experience and for one of the best comic series debuts in the last few years.

RATING: A

BRZRKR is available in both single issues and also in trade paperback from BOOM! Studios.