DC Mech #1 – Kenny Porter, Writer; Baldemar Rivas, Artist; Mike Spicer, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: One of the best things about DC is the way its concepts can be switched around thanks to the multiverse, showing us the characters we know in completely different ways. This one takes us all the way back to WW2, as the Justice Society helped to win the war—only for their victory parade to be interrupted by an invasion from Apokalips, as one Parademon tore apart the team in the first encounter of Earth with an alien villain. Only five members of the JSA survived, and it forever changed the path of the DCU. Now, the entire hero community turned their focus to technology. The age of costumes was over, and the age of mechs began. Now, heroes including Batman and Wally West take on villains using giant robot suits, but besides that life on Earth seems pretty normal. The Flash still battles the Rogues—it just happens on a much bigger scale. But far away from Earth, some things are far more different.
It’s not just Earth where the world is on alert for alien invasion—it’s the entire cosmos. As Darkseid plans a march across the universe, Krypton prepares for the end and Jor-El and Lara wage a two-person battle to clear the path for young Kal-El to travel to Earth in his own personal mech. But this time, he’s not going to arrive as a baby—he’s going to train in the use of his battlesuit as he takes the long way, and arrive on Earth as a battle-honed mech warrior. The only problem is, this Earth isn’t going to be welcoming any aliens—even if they look like Superman. There’s been a strange pattern of mech-based superhero comics lately, and most of them just feel like toy commercials. Does this one feel like a toy commercial? To a degree, in that it’s very marketable. But it’s also smart, fun, and packed with clever details of how this world has changed. If this is an indication of what Kenny Porter’s Superboy comic will be going for, I’m very excited.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
