Static: Season One #2 – Vita Ayala, Writer; Chriscross, Layouts; Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Finisher/Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: We’re two-thirds into the launch of the new Milestone universe, and the pieces are slowly coming together. While Icon and Rocket is the more ambitious launch, Vita Ayala’s relaunch of the line’s most iconic hero is falling back on some classic teen hero tropes. But it’s using them very well. When we last left off, the villain Hotstreak used his “bang baby” powers to light the Hawkins house on fire. Static, enraged at his home being attacked, wants to go after the villain—but is forced to choose the responsible route and instead use his powers to save his home while Hotstreak goes away. Exposing his powers to his parents leads to a heated debate about what he should do with them. Ayala’s biggest strength in this comic remains their portrayal of a nuanced black family that doesn’t always get along but is always looking out for each other. The family is really the beating heart at the center of this book.
Equally strong, though, is the rogues’ gallery the book is slowly building. While Hotstreak is the big threat, the Government’s abuse of the newly transformed kids is becoming a common theme and a crisis flashpoint waiting to happen. But the more pressing threat may be Darius, an old friend of Virgil’s and a social media maven determined to expose the truth of the Bang Baby phenomenon—no matter who’s privacy he has to invade. This is an interesting subplot, with Darius being a danger to Virgil’s secret but maybe not entirely a bad guy. We get the introduction of a major new Milestone player only weeks before his own series launches—Curtis Metcalf, aka Hardware, now a fugitive from the government. Overall, it’s an intriguing start that has done a great job of getting us inside Virgil’s head and world, even if it hasn’t really separated itself from the genre yet.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
