Anghus Houvouras reviews Reborn #1…
A sprawling, science-fiction/fantasy epic, REBORN explores a jaw-dropping world of possibility. Where do you go when you die? Not heaven or hell; somewhere else. Somewhere you have to fight to survive. Somewhere the people from the past are waiting for you—the good and the bad.
Last week I waxed philosophical about how important Image Comics has become to the industry, creating a creator friendly imprint that is telling some of the most engaging and exciting stories in the medium. I gushed last week over Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s excellent debut Moonshine. This week the love train rolls on to Mark Millar and Greg Capullo’s Reborn #1.
Reborn #1 is like the methed out love child of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Frank Frazetta. An epic tale of sci-fi and fantasy with an emotional core that packs a wallop.
We open with another senseless tragedy. A gunman perched on a ledge randomly and remorselessly executes the innocent. Eventually he turns his attention to an elderly man who dies instantly after taking a bullet to the chest. When his eyes open, he is somewhere else: not the peaceful afterlife so many believe in, but a war torn world that gives you precious little time for acclimation.
Bonnie Black is an elderly woman dealing with the daunting denouement of her life. Haunted by the idea that one day she will close her eyes and never open them again. There’s also an element of survivor’s guilt as she has watched so many of her loved ones pass on before her including her husband and her best friend. Bonnie wonders if her life mattered in any way. Did her existence have any impact on the world around her?
The opening sequences of Reborn are perfect in a way that few first issues achieve. There is a sense of scope and intimacy that only two seasoned professionals like Millar and Capullo could craft. You get an absolutely epic sense of scale and a care of character that feels like such a perilous tightrope to walk, and yet we get both delivered in delirious detail.
Millar has been known in the past for his bombastic storytelling and over the top elements. However in the last few years he’s delivered some of the strongest, most sincere characters in comics. Bonnie Black feels like the bookend for Duke McQueen from his excellent series Starlight (probably my favorite Millar story), another character dealing with loneliness and the fearful prospects of death. Greg Capullo’s art is so rich in detail. There are few artists working at this level, who can capture both the smallest of personal moments and the most jaw dropping pieces of kinetic action. I can’t think of a comic title this year that i would use the word ‘gorgeous’ to describe. There are panels that merge science fiction and fantasy with such rich detail that it begs to be adapted to the big screen.
Reborn #1 is an absolute gem: the most fun debut of 2016. Make room in your buy pile for this one. You won’t regret it.
Rating: 10/10
Anghus Houvouras
Originally published October 11, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
