Review:
First Wave #1

First Wave is more than just a random miniseries starring some of comicdom’s most prolific pulp fiction heroes (note, the lack of super). It’s the launch of an entirely new continuity/universe for DC Comics. It’s no secret that DC has been attempting to replicate the success of Marvel’s reboot universe (the Ultimate series of books), and frankly DC’s had a rather poor showing.

Until now.

First Wave #1 manages to invoke the joy and juvenile wonder of the Golden Age of comics without being trapped in the camp and social stigmas of a bygone era. Its intention is to create a new non-superpowered universe that chronicles the stories and lives of DC’s cast of mortal heroes with the edginess of post WWII pulp fiction; and candidly speaking, this pleases me greatly. I’ve always felt the crossover of humans and metahumans (DC’s superpowered characters) has left the former at a storytelling disadvantage.

I have a feeling that’s all about to change with First Wave.

As an opening issue, it is a bit light on world building – from what I could gather it’s essentially 1950s America with modern day tech (think Caprica or Batman: The Animated Series) – and it focuses exclusively on two semi-obscure DC characters: Doc Savage and The Spirit.

I realize to some these two characters are anything but obscure, but in recent times they’ve fallen a bit out of favor and aren’t featured much anymore. I was only aware of them in passing, and I believe that’s fairly representative of the average modern day comic aficionado. I’d liked to have seen some form of introduction to these characters, to better help me understand what motivates them and who they are (without resorting to wikipedia). However, the story was so tightly paced that I only had brief moments to reflect on my complete lack of familiarity. I was far too engrossed to really care.

This, to me, is the hallmark of any great piece of fiction. The ability to suck you in, make you forget about everything else, and simply enjoy the experience. First Wave #1 does this in spades. I barely noticed the absence of Batman (the primary reason I was so excited about this series in the first place), and while light on the details, the story was interesting enough to make me care about to characters I’d never cared about before.

In my book, First Wave is a return to form that demands to be read, if not relished.