Marvel Unleashed #1: Dog Days are in Session

Marvel Unleashed #1 is a welcome blast of fun into an era of Marvel mired in stories of heroes at their lowest and editorial marching orders that revel in misery. Kyle Starks and Jesus Hervas have penned a great young reader’s adventure that doubles as a great tale for all ages, featuring fun character dynamics that carry a somewhat insane plot on its back with ease. While there is an extreme sense of technical mastery on display with this issue, it pales in comparison to just how entertaining this overall issue is.

It follows two different plots that wind up being one by the issue’s end, which combines both super-powered and average street animals into a furry Avengers line-up that must work together to take down Kraven the Hunter, as well as the infernal demon Blackheart. From Sam Wilson’s partner Redwing to the Immortal Throg, it seems no animal is safe from the clutches of demonic evil!

This book shines with its character dynamics and the comedy that comes out of them. Kyle Starks is an author whose strongest talent in writing is character-driven comedy, and this book clearly fits his mold. Unlike the vulgarity of his recent Peacemaker series, Starks keeps the comedy to a more  ‘entertaining for all’ edge that is still incredibly well-executed, if completely inoffensive. That’s really the best way to describe this book.

While its key concept, that being the animal-driven narrative is a generic gimmick in this day and age, the Marvel aesthetic and plot help it to stand out. However, fighting demons and exploring the merry Marvel Universe is still not enough to keep this story from being anything all that special in the grand scheme of things. The characters are driven by a pretty generic motivation for this genre archetype, Yen Nitro’s art is beautiful and dynamic enough to keep the book visually fresh even if its plotting was incredibly dull. All-in-all, this is a book that many will enjoy for its visual style and characters, and less so the standard setup for a plot that may wear the skin of something fresh, but at its core is more of the same children’s adventure tale branded onto adult nostalgia.