Advance Review: Wayward #1 from Image Comics

From the creative team of Jim Zub, Steve Cummings and John Rauch comes Wayward, a curious tale of monsters, myth & coming of age in a new city.

Zub writes what one would describe as the perfect first issue with Wayward #1, he sets up the initial conflict and our main character with such care and attention that you get lost in the story and really feel for the emotional situation that Rori is thrust into. She is in a new city feeling very isolated and unsure of what to do next and discovers she has strange powers that have manifested. This takes a turn for the worse when she is attacked by a group of “turtles”“ and a chance meeting with Ayane who seems to show the same supernatural powers as Rori.

Nothing feels rushed with this issue and we have a good feel where this book is going and what we are going to discover in the coming months as this comic progresses, what are Rori“s powers? Who are the monsters that attacked them? What does this mean for our main character? All these are questions that naturally the reader will ask and Zub leaves a lot of these threads wide open, giving us just enough information to whet our appetites whilst expertly establishing the world, the central premise and some information about our main character.

The art from both Cummings and Rauch is utterly stunning in this book. Cummings leans towards an anime style that as this book is set in Japan fits in wonderfully, it still retains a very western comic edge but, you can clearly see the Eastern influences all over this book and it is wonderful to behold. As I previously mentioned our main character is feeling very isolated in this new city and Rauch and Zub“s colours play on this perfectly, they have Rori Â dressed in very bright colours so she stands out whilst the rest of the world is rendered in more drab greys, browns and beige. This allows her to stand out so the reader can instantly see this isolation she feels and is a wonderful technique.

Wayward is a charming book, you warm to the main character instantly whilst reading this and for fans of things such as Buffy or really any coming of age tale with a supernatural twist. Hopefully over the coming issues we will see Rori“s personality explored some more and her powers develop some more but, this issue serves as a perfect introduction to her world and is a great read.

4/5

By Matt Deery

Follow Matt on Twitter:Â @brujah69adÂ

Author Profile

Matt Deery

Matt Deery is an avid comic reader from the UK, relatively new to the writing scene but, enjoying being part of the Comic Crusaders team and getting to talk about some the books that I adore. Will read almost anything Marvel, with Spider-Man and Iron Man being my all time favorite comic book characters and has recently found a love for Image and Valiant books and generally anything Sci FI or Espionage related. Check out my twitter @brujah69ad if you want to stop by and talk comics, video games or movies!