Static: Season One #1

Static: Season One #1

DC Comics/Milestone Universe 2021

Written by Vita Ayala

Layouts by Chriscross

Finishes & Colours by Nikolas Draper-Ivey

Lettered by Andworld Design

At long last, the most famous face of the Milestone Universe is making his shocking return! Bullied nerd Virgil Hawkins wasn't the kind of kid you'd normally find on the streets at a protest– but like everyone else in the city of Dakota, he was fed up. Unfortunately, the first time he stood up to raise his voice, the world turned upside down. The experimental tear gas released that day left some of his classmates maimed or dead…but it left Virgil, and others, with stunning new abilities. Virgil has power inside him now — real power, the ability to channel and manipulate electromagnetic fields. But there's anger burning inside him, too. What is he supposed to do about all of this? And first and foremost — what is he supposed to do about his bullies, now that they've got superpowers too?

I like that we’re basically starting all over again, rebirth of the Multiverse means that Milestone is much like say Earth 3 is reborn anew so it’s time to start from the beginning. Thankfully I really the creators here or I might have actually passed on this and I have to say I am so glad that I didn’t. Because while I may not have known what to expect it certainly wasn’t this and I’m absolutely positively thrilled with this issue.

I am really enjoying 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 exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter along the way is phenomenally well rendered. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the world and introducing the characters is riveting stuff.

I am enjoying how this is being structured and how we see the layers within being to emerge with each new scenario that we encounter. With the way we see the emotional issues happening with being a bang baby and how this unfolds before us really adds that extra depth and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is greatly achieved.

I am rather taken with the interiors here. There is something delicate yet powerful about how we see the linework being utilised to create this level and quality of detail work is absolutely brilliant! That we see backgrounds like we do and how they enhance the moments as well as work within the panels to bring us the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is rendered exceptionally well. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. I’m serious though about how delicate and yet powerful the imagery is because it is nearly ethereal in quality at times and it delights the senses like there’s no tomorrow. The colour work is utterly gorgeous. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a brilliant eye for how colour works and can work to create the maximum desired effect.

​

I love this, there is so much story driven story happening within these pages that when you blend in the action sequences the overall effect is stunning. I am enjoying this so much more than I had thought I would and the sheer fact that this is so smartly written and brilliantly illustrated that it is easy to see why this is the first of the Milestone titles to hit stands.