Reviews - Midnighter #1

Killing Machine, Part One

Midnighter, the homosexual killing machine from The Authority finally gets his own series and it is written by the man born to write Midnighter, Garth Ennis! I've been a big fan of Ennis' work since his Man called Kev mini-series. His other series, The Boys, is good and it's got all your typical Garth Ennis elements such as sex, violence and more violence.

Midnighter has some unique abilities. Created by Henry Bendis (aka Weatherman), Midnighter was part of Stormwatch Black, a covert team of operatives meant for deep infiltration. Midnighter has technology integrated into him that allows him to see his opponent's moves before his opponent even thinks about them.

Although this technology gives a serious advantage to Midnighter, there has been more than a few times he's gotten his ass handed to him. The really good ass-kicking was when Stormwatch Team Achilles took him down.

In this issue, Ennis establishes Midnighter's loner personality. He takes out mujahadeen in Afghanistan and then gets his ass kicked once more. We're introduced to some new players in the intelligence community. They want Midnighter to work for them as their personal assassin. The first target is revealed on the last page and it's another weird Ennis twist.

Chris Sprouse's artwork is pretty good. Jim Lee has really done a great job in pairing up artists and writers for the Wildstorm relaunch. Sprouse's style isn't too flashy but it's consistent and well drawn. Sprouse can definitely illustrate the violence that's required in a standard Ennis book.

Good start to a new solo series from Wildstorm. I'm looking forward to next issue to read how exactly Midnighter plans to kill his target. I'm sure it's going to be classic Garth Ennis.

DRAGONCRYPT - Sunday, November 19, 2006