Seeking escape from a bleak reality, Rick Drake fills his world with music, struggling to cope with a society that sees his dark gift as a condition to be medicated. Bombarded with visions revealing the dark hearts of humanity, Rick takes up the mantle of Cobalt, dealing brutal justice to sinners foolish enough to think their horrific secrets were safe.
Space Goat Publishing brings us an interesting take on new character.  Rick Drake is suffering from a perceived mental illness which manifests itself in vivid hallucinations showing the evil in the hearts of those around him.  The first issue is narrated by Rick’s psychologist, Dr. Chara Gianopoulos.  This issue is a quasi-origin story for Rick largely from Dr. Chara’s perspective.  I found the central theme to be quite interesting.  Confronting mental illness, whether perceived or diagnosed is a nice departure from the typical.  The script was moderate in pace and the narration clearly showed the complexities of Drake’s psychology.  Is he a hero unlocking a powerful gift, a man struggling with mental illness, or as evil as his visions?
The art was good and fitting for the title.  Several panels were down right gorgeous.  The colors were also good, varying in palette depending on location.  I had a few minor criticisms; in several panels the character faces were slightly muted almost appearing to lack anatomical features. I also found at least one instance where the dialogue seemed to be missing words to form a coherent phrase.  Perhaps this was intentional as the lettering changed frequently to denote the character, and at times we were dealing with demonic creatures.  I rather liked the lettering aside from some of the script letters being difficult to discern.
Overall, I found this to be a decent opener. Â I am not sure how I feel about a hero/anti-hero welding a guitar as the basis of his power set, but I was more than intrigued to read another issue.
[yasr_overall_rating]
Script: Â LLexi Leon & Justin Peniston
Art: Â Jason Metcalf
Inks: Â Tony Kordos & Juan Castro
Colors: Â Garry Henderson & Chris Summers
Letters: Â Charles Pritchett & Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Space Goat
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