We continue to expose the truth! This almighty truth is that there are plenty of neglected comic books and graphic novels hiding in your discount bins and long boxes at your favorite store just begging for attention. This week, Gatecrasher Vol. 1: Ring of Fire, from the sure-fire team of Mark Waid, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor.
By CLAY N. FERNO
This teenage tale of interdimensional invasion is exactly what I look for in a 2-Bit comic: There are space crews with big guns, angry mentors and broken dates with a hot girlfriend all in the first chapter.
Our hero is college jock Alec Wagner, who by day is swooning over girlfriend Mia. He’s got a bit of the Peter Parker luck, always being called in to fight bug-eyed aliens on his covert team — the Split-Second Squad — just in time to break their dates. Because of his human instincts and his age, he’s routinely given a hard time by his crewmates.
On the other side of the “gate,” the evil Solen Cagliar has stolen an important piece of technology — the Thinktank. When Alec steals it back, he is covered in a liquid computer goo. Will this new goo make Alec more valuable to the team? I think Vol. 2 has the answers!
It is no surprise that Mark Waid and Jimmy Palmiotti make a great team, developing a young man and his struggles. And Amanda Conner is one of the best artists working today: Sexuality and curvy forms are tools used to sell the story but Conner kicks serious tail drawing space guns, action scenes, creepy aliens and facial expressions, as well.
Way back in 2011, Waid mentioned rekindling Gatecrasher but no news since. Perhaps a letter-writing campaign can get it done! Do people still do that? I guess it is called Twitter now.
The two Gatecrasher miniseries were published by Wizard under the Black Bull Imprint in 2000 and 2001 and issues #1-4 were collected by Image in 2012.
This 2-Bit comic is a full-on fun sci-fi superhero story with interesting and funny characters that leaves you wanting more.
Clay N. Ferno gets around. He’s @ClayNFerno on the Twitter and writes about comics at @DigBoston, @ForcesOfGeek & @LeaguePodcast.
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