Telepaths #1

Telepaths #1

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Illustrated by Steve Epting

Coloured by Brian Reber

Lettered by Sal Cipriano

An electromagnetic disturbance results in the sudden awakening of telepathic powers in a tenth of the Earth's population. In the moments after the world comes to grips with this development, newly-telepathic Boston police find themselves sent against a wrongly convicted prisoner who becomes a hero and leader of other telepaths trying to escape a world in which their powers will make them targets. Both are heroes of their own story, and the future may depend on whether or not trust can be found between them.

I really like this issue. One of the things that really sticks out for me is that a solar flare of such magnitude isn’t unheard of and it is true that each one has a different makeup of materials so that you cannot quite accurately predict what it is that will happen once it hits. So there is actual real science happening here and it’s being told in a way that the reader can understand and even if the results are a bit woo woo that doesn’t mean it is outside the realm of what could possibly actually happen if such a solar flare were to hit Earth.

I am loving 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 are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter say a lot about who these people are. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing the story, the characters and this world they live in we’re caught off guard by how familiar this world looks and feels.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within emerge and grow are pretty magnificently rendered. I really am impressed with how we see the layers opening up and how many different avenues these leave to be explored either now, later or never. What all these do is add some wonderful depth, dimension and complexity to the story and there are a lot of things here and not one of them feels overwhelming, rushed or added arbitrarily. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are mindbogglingly brilliant to behold. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of the detail work that we see throughout the book is breathtaking. The creativity and imagination that is on display is phenomenal and how everything and everyone looks so utterly and completely normal is incredible. The way we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments as well as work 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 fabulously rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and show a masterful eye for storytelling. 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 how to maximise its effects.

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The way that this reads is fantastic. It feels like it goes quickly through the pages and yet it is a normal page count and there is so much information we are getting here and nothing and I mean nothing feels rushed or out of place. It is so perfectly placed, rendered and presented that it is one of the best things you’ll read. The writing is flawless and the characterisation is strong and interesting and the interiors that bring this all to life do with apparent ease. This really is one of the strongest debuts let alone the strongest of Straczynski’s debuts from AWA Upshot.