Phenom X #1

Phenom X #1

Image Comics 2021

Script/Plot by John Leguizamo, Aram Rappaport

Joe Miciak & Damian Slattery

Illustrated by Chris Batista

Inked by Sabrina Cintrón

Coloured by Christopher Sotomayor

Lettered by Andworld Design

Wrongfully imprisoned and desperate to regain his freedom, Max Gomez agrees to become a subject in an underground government experiment. When the trial gives him phenomenal shape-shifting abilities, Gomez learns his new “freedom” requires surviving a superpowered war fought on the streets of NYC.

Alright this is cute. The opening is eye-catching and while Max does break the fourth wall, I could have done without that, it piques the curiosity about what’s going on. Then to flashback and start at the beginning which will eventually take us to the present well it’s a good solid tactic. I’m not so sure I like the distinction in genetic make-up that is being touted here, the idea of being irradiated and building a resistance to that makes much more sense considering all the illegal waste dumping that happens annually. I just don’t like the idea of a genetic difference so that folks can “legit” use that they are superior. It rankles my feathers. Aside from that I think that this has some great promise to it and that these candidates that have the right circumstances to gain abilities will make for some interesting reading.

I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter spotlights their emerging personalities extremely well. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing the characters, the story and the world they live in to us the more we want to see.

I like how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story begin to emerge, grow and evolve. The layers within the story work to open up new avenues to be explored and while some will be and others won’t be, they all add some nice depth, dimension and complexity to this story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are extremely well achieved.

The interiors here are bloody fantastic! Gosh the linework is exquisite and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level & quality within the attention to detail throughout is extraordinary to see. That we see backgrounds being utilised as they are and how they enhance and expand the moments while also working within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is exceptionally well handled. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sensational eye for colour and how it works. I like the boldness and the subtlety that we see throughout the book and then there are moments that stand out because they just look badarse.

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I’m not thrilled with the Amanda Waller knock off and that she basically made sure Max had no options but hers was the worst underhanded mishegas I’ve ever seen. She’s not a good guy no matter how much you dress it up otherwise, nope don’t trust this one. Still she’s a good motivator to expose the whole thing and put her arse behind bars. This has some strong, intense and interesting writing, some familiar characterisation and these mind blowing interiors, yeah if this continues like this it’s going to be a pretty strong and interesting series.