Edison Rex #10 Review

Edison_Rex_10-1
Edison Rex #10 Review

Story: Chris & Dennis
Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Dennis Culver
Colors: Stephen Downer
Letters: John J. Hill
Monkeybrain Comics

“You weren’t my teammates. You were distractions. Pawns!”

I love Edison Rex. It’s the best $1 you’ll spend on a superhero comic in any given month. Issue 10 isn’t the best issue in the series, but there isn’t a bad issue in the series. For $1 you could pick up all 10 for less than the cost of 4 DC or Marvel books, and you’ll have just as good a time.

Edison Rex is the flagship comic for Monkeybrain, it’s digital only on ComiXology. It’s a loose, fun,superhero romp that is basically “What happened if Lex Luther actually killed Superman?” and the answer is, of course, “become a hero.” This kind of premise isn’t common, but it has been done before in comics like Mark Waid’s ‘Irredeemable’. Mark, however, went dark while Chris goes for four color romp. This title reads like fun 70’s and 80’s Justice League comics before the 90’s ruined storytelling with polybags and foil covers.

In fact, you have to know your hero comics to read this comic and get it. It assumes you know who the stand ins are for, and plays off your knowledge of comic history to inform the current story. In a way, it’s more like an elseworld’s DC. Not that there isn’t a ton of new here, or that the references are slavish, but you need to know the Justice League, Batman, Robin, and the Teen Titans exist to understand this issue. You’re told everything you need know – but barely. My DC knowledge is mostly limited to animated DCU and Vertigo, but that was enough to catch all the references and follow along. It’s like trying to watch Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D without having seen any Marvel movies. It works, but not nearly as well.

This isn’t a criticism of Edison Rex, just a warning. If all you read is X-Men, you’ll definitely have a sense of Huh? But as a DC fan, you’ll have lots to laugh about and non knowingly.

The art has an animation style to it, and works for the kind of story being told. Reminds me a bit of Ben 10 style, but it’s not derivative, it’s Dennis’s own style. And Dennis has fun drawing gadgets, and that’s a good thing because Rex loves gadgets.

The issues also tend to pick up mid story. Lots of stuff happens between issues and you are just grabbed and dragged along for the ride. It’s a fun ride, and the stories always make sense, eventually. Again, not a crit, just a warning. You’re not missing anything on page 1, just hang on and enjoy. And if you do love minutia, each issue includes in the back several pages of encyclopedia entries describing the new characters introduced that issue.

Edison himself is interesting. He rises to every challenge with even bigger weapons, but most of the time, he’s won before he even draws them. He’s a genius, and Chris is a genius at making you think Rex is finally in over his head – and then proceeds to show you why he’s not. Rex takes this all in stride in a whack-a-mole kind of stride. As he tries to protect the world as its main hero, he has to smack down all the opposition and problems that pop up. This has included extra-dimensional versions of himself, and in this issue, it’s the team of supervillains he’d formed in the past. It’s a lot like Spider-Ock trying to be a Superior Spider-Man. Doc Ock’s ego just doesn’t have the right sensibilities to be a true hero, and Rex doesn’t either. Unlike Doc Ock, there is no returning to the status quo of Peter Parker. This is Chris’s world. He doesn’t have to revive the Valiant. This is like watching the last season of Justice League Unlimited – “We’re canceled at the end of this season, let’s do what we want and tell all the stories and team ups we couldn’t do otherwise” – and it’s a blast.

4/5

Scott Bachmann writes his own comics and novels over at Scottcomics.com

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