Static: Shadows of Dakota #1 // Review
It’s three months after the event known as the Big Bang. A young man is walking the streets of Dakota City. The authorities are confronting a woman. A little police harassment is the least of the young man’s problems. He’s got powers, and those powers are going to be needed in Static: Shadows of Dakota #1. The writing team of Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala continues the story of Static in the first issue of a new series with art by Draper-Ivey. Slick visuals amplify action and drama in a promising first issue of a whole new series for Milestone Comics’s 30th anniversary.
The young man has food for an old homeless woman. The police are getting a bit aggressive, but they’re not the real threat. The real threat comes from a group of people with much heavier weaponry than the police. There’s a group of mercenaries with some high-tech weapons. They’re targeting Bang Babies--people who had been granted strange powers by an experimental gas that had been used by riot police at a public protest. The young man in question has powers and a secret identity. The mercenaries will have to deal with Static--a hero who can control electromagnetic energy.
Ayala and Draper-Ivey modulate the action well with three primary scenes. The opening action between Static is followed by a dramatic scene that further reveals some of what’s going on in Dakota City before an ominous ending that introduces the big conflict that Static will undoubtedly have to deal with in the next few issues. There’s a steady rhythm to the opening issue of the new series that never tries to reach for too much. While overall familiarity with Static would help, the chapter serves as a solid jumping-on point for the uninitiated.
Draper-Ivey’s art is strikingly dynamic. The color and visual effects amplify the impact of Static’s powers in a way that feels much more potent than the original series from 30 years ago. Draper-Ivey chooses some very powerful angles to the action and grounds them in a rich backdrop that makes Dakota City seem vividly real. Above it all, Static looks genuinely cool as he glides around the action. The art does a pretty good job with straight-ahead drama as well, but the real power lies in the villain in the darkness in the issue’s final scene. There’s a powerful use of negative space in that last scene that is suitably chilling.
Milestone’s 30th anniversary feels like it’s off to a solid start with Static. Next up: the first issue of the Icon vs. Hardware mini-series on the 14th. Then in March, there’s the big 30th-anniversary special. The company had such impressive momentum when it started up 30 years ago. With any luck, the company can return in a big way with these three titles.
