Originally published July 14, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
Ricky Church reviews Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye Vol. 1: Going Underground…
Cave Carson has done it all: survived countless adventures below the Earth’s surface, met the love of his life, and gotten a cybernetic eye…somehow. Now, newly widowed, Cave tries to piece his life back together when a knock on the door of his secret underground lab pulls him back into a past that he and Eileen thought they had left buried deep within the Earth.
In these tales from issues #1-6, Cave must determine if his recent hallucinations are the work of his mind or his mysterious cybernetic eye. (Spoiler: It’s the eye.)
DC’s Young Animal imprint plucks another obscure character from the DC library to give them their own series with Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye. The first volume, Going Underground, is a good introduction to the title character with a fast paced story, good artwork and some nice comedic moments.
Cave Carson is an explorer who specializes in exploring what’s beneath the Earth’s crust, but has been retired for some time until he’s called back by a subterranean race contacts him for help. Since Carson is such a obscure character, writers Gerard Way and Jon Rivera had a lot of freedom with which to depict him. Carson is shown to be a compelling protagonist that is highly intelligent, compassionate and quick on his feet. Way and Rivera pulls you onto his side fast though on a very personable level, making you relate to him as he grieves for his recently lost wife.
His daughter Chloe, though, comes pretty close to stealing the book with her spunky attitude and wish to live an ordinary life. Rivera wrote her well and gave her a voice unique to her father or mother. DC vigilante Wild Dog has a smaller supporting role to play, offering not much more than help in fights or the occasional F-bomb, but still adds an interesting factor to Cave and Chloe’s relationship and mission.
One of the best factors of Cave Carson is Michael Avon Oeming’s artwork. The art is really out there in several sequences throughout the book with Oeming using some almost psychedelic imagery on Cave’s adventure. Several images standout, such as a full two-page spread of Cave and his group outrunning a mutant monster in their digger below the Earth’s crust. Nick Filardi’s colours also enhance Oeming’s art and makes the visuals pop throughout the book, particularly at points where Cave’s cybernetic eye malfunctions or he begins seeing hallucinations.
Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye Vol. 1: Going Underground is a quirky and fun story that acts almost as a homage to the old television adventure serials. The characters are well written and Way and Rivera manage to let this book stand on its own from the DC universe and the other Young Animal books. Anyone whose looking for a new series to dive into should check this out.
Rating: 9/10
Ricky Church
