If your coming in only knowing brief glimpses of Alva from the days that Kids WB! was a thing, “Shrapnel” establishes Alva as not only a cold and calculated villain, but one who is not afraid to get his hands dirty to achieve what he desires. This character trait is surprising to say the least. For a villain with his prestige, the expected cop out for his defense would be henchman or weapons, something not so direct or blatant. With this now being revealed that Alva is willing to touch what he intends to victimize, this adds a new level of threat to an already powerful figure.
Hardware ends up failing panel after panel in this part of the tale : a child gets rushed to ICU because of him, one of his love interests gets arrested, and by the end of the issue his suit is soiled and he gets shot in the chest for attempting to warn someone he cares about in regards to the danger of being acquainted with him; but still Hardware displays a hero’s resilience and consistently exceeds his own limits. The man should invest in some Extra Mile’s for Dakota after all the drama that Alva caused has blown over …
But seriously, Cowan & Sienkiewicz are a match made in heaven, as Sienkiewicz is able to set the moody tone with inks and Cowan has drawn some of the most gorgeous female jowl and ocular work that I have ever seen in comic history, putting to page the cleanest depictions of Afro-centrism that I have seen in comics in contrast to the rawest depictions that I have seen from the likes of Risso or Corben. And Sotomayor’s colors more than compliment these other core artistic elements, bringing the look of something that could only have been done with oil paints – furthering the heavy Afro-centric tone that is more prevalent, realistic, and dismal than any other Milestone book currently on the shelves.
That is to be noted, since “Shrapnel” reminds readers that yes Hardware is tied in the same universe as Ayala’s animated Static, while simultaneously putting out a PSA that if you reach Hardware’s voicemail, he will get back to you. People with soul don’t ghost. A truth, but what’s also real is that while Hardware is doing his best to stay off the grid; the work Thomas and Co. are putting into this book should be sure to ping on every serious comic book reader’s radar, and if it hasn’t , you might want to take your server to Metcalf for an upgrade.
Score : 5/5
(W) Brandon Thomas (A) Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz
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