ADVANCED REVIEW: Antioch #1: Live At Folsom Prison

Picking up where Frontiersman left off, Antioch kicks off with a slow burn, re-introducing readers to the Frontiersman (thankfully without hitting readers over the head with needless exposition) while simultaneously re-centering the ongoing story to new character Antioch (think: Namor but with Dragonball Z hair and a submarine). It’s a clever way to move the story forward for Frontiersman’s second act, not to mention a tad risky since it centers on an all-new character – but thankfully, it works.

Creators Patrick Kindlon and Marco Ferrari came from deep left field to break out the best new superhero book of the year with Frontiersman, taking the Green Arrow/liberal loudmouth SJW archetype and attaching it to a hero past his prime. But Frontiersman was no rehash of The Dark Knight Returns – instead, it was a masterful meditation on sticking to your guns while the world has changed around you (including the next generation “on your side”), and everyone and everything is saying you’re yesterday’s news – regardless of the price. And the price Frontiersman paid was being sent to prison.

Kindlon, in Frontiersman‘s back matter, made some pretty bold claims about what he wanted to do with that comic: create a character-first superhero book that shook up the expectations for capes-and-tights series, shaking the doldrums of the Big 2 and really shooting for the moon. And, it worked. Kindlon and Ferrari’s approach treated this new universe they’d concocted with a sense of reverence and determination that earned buy-in from readers in the best way possible, with compelling characters, real-world dilemmas, and villains about more than just punching. Frontiersman became, essentially, ground zero for a whole new paradigm for superhero storytelling by going deliciously old-school, before creators’ names were the selling point of the book, rather than the characters or their world. Bold, indeed.

And now that story continues with Antioch. I was initially put off by the fact that instead of Frontiersman #6, I was being told that I had to read about this other new cat in Antioch #1. Who did this Kindlon guy think he was, especially after saying Frontiersman was going to be an ongoing? Was this Lucy and Charlie Brown with the football?! But upon reading Antioch #1, my trepidation was unfounded: in fact, shifting the story’s focus to a new character is all part of the plan to shake up traditional superhero doldrums.

And, again: boy does it work.

Antioch is an environmental warrior archetype in the same manner Frontiersman is an SJW liberal archetype – my above comparison to Namor isn’t far from the mark, although Antioch doesn’t hail from Atlantis or anything like that. In fact, the extent or nature of his abilities is still something of an unknown – but at this point, delving deep into his backstory is part of the fun. Suffice to say, he’s pissed off, and doesn’t care if corporate stooges get hurt if it protects the environment. But there’s a deeper game afoot – one that dovetails right into the ongoing saga of the Frontiersman, and opens up this burgeoning superhero world for new, creative avenues for storytelling. This is what I want to read in a creator-owned book.

Marco Ferrari’s art continues to be a great fit for Kindlon’s story. It’s lean and clean, but not bereft of details. Coloring and inking his own art, Ferrari proves he’s the total package – a one-man wrecking crew bursting with talent and just begging for bigger things. I hope he sticks with Kindlon, though – they’re a fantastic match for one another.

Antioch works because it’s not only something new, something different, but it feels familiar at the same time. That’s by design – Kindlon knows what he’s doing. By tapping into pre-existing archetypes for characters that readers already know, he’s building an instant rapport with readers by turning something new from something familiar. That’s smart storytelling, something that, frankly, there’s an embarrassment of riches in the creator-owned corners of comics over the past decade or so. What makes the budding Frontiersman-verse feel different is that it’s focused on the characters and their world, not the creators’ names. Do Kindlon and Ferrari deserve to become the next Zdarsky, Fraction, Vaughan, or Staples? Hell yes they do. But I have the sneaking suspicion they’d prefer to let the work speak for them. And in Antioch #1, it does – loudly, proudly, and in spades. Hats off to this next leg of their creative journey together.