Review: Anthem #1

Anthem, for those of you who don“t know, is based upon the EA Bioware video game. It“s story, written by Alexander Freed and Mac Walters, scripted by the first of the two. I have a penchant for loving the slightly more proselike monologue that fills the initial bits of these pages. There“s something beautiful to finding more organic, poetic words in something that might seem like an alien world full of steel. Something that I appreciate as it dips itself into the story between Jani and Kismet. It weaves a tale in beautiful images more like memories told in ink by Eduardo Francisco with colors by Michael Aityeh.

It“s fate twisting itself into deeper connections that slowly progress, page by page, as we read. The bits of sadness and nostaglia that mature with time, offering us a glimpse of what may or may not be. We see how time itself molds our characters from somewhat petulant children into beings who are, hopefully, more self-aware. It“s the theme, for me, through the entirety of the comic itself. That we all have things that have shaped us into who we are today but, ultimately, can we escape predestination to become something more? Something outside of that? Do we dare have the courage to dream? Or are we merely victims to our own indiscriminate merciless future?

Something about this title’s cliffhanger sort of closing leaves me with more questions about the characters whose lives are at the front and center of the title itself. What does their past connection mean for what’s eventually to come? How will it affect the future, if at all? These questions are things that I so desperately want to know the answers too. There’s a longing inside Kismet for something…maybe all things…he can’t have and it breaks my heart to know but also stokes a fire inside me that begs me to continue to read on.

Although this title is something outside of my wheelhouse given that I hadn’t played the game itself, if you’re a fan I always suggest delving into the back history of some of the worlds that you might actively play as a part of. I’ll give Anthem’s first issue a 3.5 out of 5 stars for the beautiful prose, the elegant action panels that surround you, wrap you up in a world far different from the ones we’re part of, and the beautiful bold colors that fill its interiors and make your eyes wish for more.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Alexander Freed, Mac Walters (A/CA) Eduardo Francisco