Duo #1 – Greg Pak, Writer; Koi Pham, Penciller; Scott Hanna, Inker; Chris Sotomayor, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: For the first time in this wave, Milestone is introducing a new hero—or two—to its shared universe. Written by acclaimed creator Greg Pak, this feels like a horror-driven take on Firestorm as backed by elements of sci-fi tech warfare and transhumanism. It focuses on Dr. Kelly Vu and her husband Dr. David Kim, who are on the verge of a miraculous healing project that would use nanobots to instantly heal injuries and illnesses. It would just have one little side effect—potentially fusing everyone together into some sort of omni-mind, allowing them to read each others’ thoughts. That leads a tech executive to reject their project but attempt to buy their research. They refuse—and that night are attacked at their homes by what looks like masked aliens. The assailants unleash the power of their experiment, mortally wound the two of them, and seemingly kill them—but only one of them stays dead.
When David wakes up, he’s lost in grief and confusion, and soon finds himself stalked by the same monsters that attacked his home. From there, he discovers both unique superpowers—and the presence of his wife in his head, speaking to him and trying to get out. The issue spends a lot of time on the bond between the two lovers and asks the question—can a relationship survive when all the barriers between them are torn down? It has an intriguing pair of lead characters and a unique setup, but it struggles to develop a compelling antagonist. The villain is pretty obvious from the second he shows up and doesn’t really display any character traits to make him stand out from the other evil corporate genius of the Milestone Universe, Edwin Alva. Overall, while the pacing of this first issue might need a little work, its characters are compelling enough to drive the concept for the rest of the series.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
