‘Cover #1’ (review)

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by David Mack
Published by DC Comics

Brian Michael Bendis is back!

His run on Superman is fantastic. His creator owned books are pretty fantastic, too.

And now Bendis is teaming up with his old friend David Mack to create a new comic book experience. What more can you ask from the guy?

This also seems to be a departure for both creators.

The opening sequence of the book takes place in a comic book convention. We see all of these people walking around in costumes. We hear all of the things we normally hear at a comic book convention. We also see the creators going about their business. One of the creators even looks like David Mack himself. It’s an intriguing beginning.

The creator in question we see is a man named Max Field. He is the creator of Ninja Sword Odyssey. At the convention he runs into a girl Julia. They have a conversation and it seems that they have a mutual attraction. It’s a nice setup here.

From there, we go into Max’s studio where we see his work as an artist. It’s beautiful work in these pages that Mack puts forth. The other art is good, just a bit sketchy and different.

Fields travels some more and meets Julia in another part of the world. These pages are sketchy too except for Julia who is fully realized. It’s wonderful work by Mack here as he makes a visual choice and completely runs with it.

But the end of the first issue, Max meets Julia in a brand new set of circumstances. It’s an interesting cliffhanger we end on. Bendis really knows how to make you want to come back. And I do.

These are two creators at the top of their game and it’s good to see them working together. This is pretty great.

RATING: A