No Hero #1 Review

No Hero #1
Elite writer Warren Ellis seems to be the only guy writing for Avatar Comics. He has at least four different series that I know of and No Hero is his newest story in the mix.

The book is almost a take-off of Wanted. A guy gets into a special club, in this case "The Front Line" and becomes a freedom fighter (except there is no murder or rape and the main character doesn't become a bad guy like in the aforementioned series...so it's not really like Wanted at all). Anyway the story follows Josh Carver as he tries his hardest to get noticed by Front Line boss, Carrick Masterson, the creator of a superhuman drug that can make any human...super. After finally grasping the attention of Masterson via a royal ass-whooping of some goons in an alley, Carver is invited to join the Front Line.

The most noticeable aspect of the book is its attention to detail in the art. Juan Jose Ayp's pencils are some of the most precise in the industry even if they are a little cartoony. I especially enjoyed the half eaten corn dog in one of the panels. There is just so much to look at when gazing upon Ayp's work that studying the art is almost as fun as reading it. That being said there are some problems with this issue. The first being that Ayp seems to have trouble drawing men. When the only female is introduce, The Operator, she is drawn so much better than the two men. Carver looks like an adult Chris Griffin from Family Guy while Masterson appears to be modeled after the vampire Lestat; with his flowing blonde hair.

The other problem, which maybe will be explained later is what the hell are those little popcorn-looking things that appear when a character hits something. It's actually distracting from the art which is never good. Each time something or someone is hit, there appears to be a small foam party. It's small but it bothers me.

Ellis' writing is as always excellent but you have to wonder why he seems to be working strictly for Avatar. Does he own the company or does he just like the creative freedom? I wish I could ask him but I'm just a lowly comic blogger who gives this...

4/5 stars