Liam Hoofe reviews WWE: NXT Takeover – Into the Fire #1…
After concentrating on in-ring action in their first two issues, Boom! Studios have decided to play around with kayfabe a little bit for their third NXT issue, Into the Fire.
The third issue of this series decides to focus on Paige, and more importantly, the formation of her group, Absolution. The group, which consisted of Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, and Paige, made their WWE debut at the end of 2017 but their run in the company was cut short due to Paige having to sadly call an end to her in-ring career just a few months later.
The comic imagines Paige spending time down in NXT, scouting out talent for her group before she makes her long-awaited return from injury. We see Paige scouting out Asuka and Ember Moon at the start of the comic, only for both women to turn her down and claim they would rather go it alone.
Paige eventually turns her attention to some of the lesser known talents in the division and, following an altercation with The Riott Squad, ultimately ends up recruiting Sonya Devilla and Mandy Rose.
Series writer, Dennis Hopeless, does a great job of building Paige up as a cunning character, one who is willing to do whatever it will take to survive when she returns to a WWE landscape that has changed a lot since her injury. He also does a great job at getting across the character of the wrestlers, especially The Iiconics, and Asuka.
Hyeonjin Kim helps him out here, his character work, coupled up nicely with the colours work from Wesllei Manoel really brings the wrestlers to life on the page, and he does an excellent job at capturing Ember Moon and her entrance in particular. The in-ring action is also solid, as it so often is from Boom! Studios.
While the storyline is not quite as intriguing as in other editions, with the comic deciding to pursue events that fans never saw on screen, NXT Takeover – Into the Fire still manages to maintain more than enough quality to be entertaining, and keep Boom! Studios NXT streak intact.
Rating: 7/10
Liam Hoofe
