Psi-Lords #1
Recap
Four strangers wake up, amnesiac and drawn to each other by a telepathic whisper. Artisan, Hazard, Tank and Scion are soon introduced to the reader as is their unique psionic abilities and personalities. Each character is interesting in their own rite while being quite diverse from one another, the building blocks for an intriguing group dynamic. The group escape their individual jail cells and find their psychic guide just in time.......for him to get shot to death and discover they're lost somewhere deep in space and their captors are some kinda gnarly aliens. So yeah it just got real.
Review
Van Lente dusts off a property that hasn’t seen action in something like 25-30 years. Mixing equal parts Lost In Space with something akin to Green Lanterns meet Fantastic Four Van Lente plays down the building blocks for the fresh revival needed after so much time.
Renato Guedes kills the art throughout the book, flawless in capturing emotion be it pain, anger, humor etc Guedes is all over it. Adding a grounded layer to a fantastical atmosphere that fits perfectly with Van Lente’s writing. While the situation is clearly scifi the characters themselves are believable and identifiable even in their more grandiose moments.
Final Thoughts
Fred Van Lente takes a scifi troupe of strangers brought together but does it very well, what coulda ended up as a bad Power Rangers ref turns out to be as hype worthy as say the first episode of Cyborg Soldier 009. This issue provides a lot of promise while also expanding Valiant's universe away from Earth based adventures in something other than X-O Manowar which is fairly uncommon.
Van Lente gambles on stepping away from the established core of what keeps Valiant fans reading and knocks it out of the park. In one issue you're sparked with more interest in what this brings next and what other new projects Valiant will reveal in the months to come.
Psi-Lords #1: Mystery in Spaaaaaace!!!
- Writing - 8/108/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 8.5/108.5/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10