Brain Boy #1 Review
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Penciller: R.B. Silva
Inker: Rob Lean
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Colorist: EGO
Cover Artist: Ariel Olivetti
Review by Tom Barnett
This this is a new book about an old character, a character with mental powers much like many X-Men. This is a book, I probably would’ve skipped except for the fact that it was being written by Fred Van Lente. It also has gorgeous art work by R. B. Silva. Plus, it’s a revamping of an old Dell comics character from the 1960’s, which intrigued me.
The splash page puts our new hero already in trouble. He is strapped to some kind of chair, with electrodes on his head and he says, “You realize I got you right where I want you?” Van Lente then brings the story up to speed with a very short origin story and straight into the current adventure. Van Lente’s script gives you enough to immediately becoming interested in the plot and like the character. That doesn’t always happen in first issues. Van Lente also writes great dialogue and drops some nice one liners that really help you get to know the characters.
Silva and inker Rob Lean give this book some very nice clean artwork with some great panel use. I particularly enjoyed the odd bubbles and circles that accompanied Brain Boy’s use of his powers. There was one sequence of panels where Brain Boy was scanning a CIA agent’s mind that is really cool to look at. The colors are very well done too. Colors are by EGO, which I’m assuming is a company not a person’s name. The colors in the book really help to accentuate when Brain Boy is using his powers.
For $2.99, this is a can’t miss book. This is a fun and likable character, with a fast paced mystery surrounding him. It was easily one of the best books of the week. Van Lente and crew obviously read my mind and knew that I would love this book and that you will too.
Story: 4.5
Art: 4.5
Overall: 4.5
Tom is a contributing writer for Drunk On Comics. You can follow him on Twitter at @tphoto10.