Tin Can Society #6 // Review
Two weeks ago there was a kid with a smartphone in Somalia. He was taking a selfie and posting it to social media when someone in the building lost their head. Literally. A quick slice of glowing blue decapitated someone holding an assault rifle. There was a small squad of flying figures in powered armor. The armor was crimson in color. It looked like a squad of faceless flying devils. The kid ran. His story opens Tin Can Society #6. Writer Peter Warren continues a darker mutation of Iron Man-style superhero fiction with artist Francesco Mobili and colorist Chris Chuckry.
Back in the now, there Moore Progress is doing damage control. CEO Hillary Cross is speaking with words like “shocked” and “dismayed” when she’s addressing the press about the situation. Their tech had been used in that particularly brutal operation in Somalia. She assures everyone that they are conducting a thorough investigation into the situation. It was a good thing that kid had a smartphone. Moore might not have even known that their tech had been used for such purposes. That is, of course...unless they know more than they’re leting on about the leaked videos from the hostage’s phone.
The corporate drama and the physical amplification of action with powered exo-suits has been seen before. Iron Man had explore this sort of thing in a great deal of detail over the years. There were a few storylines in the early 1980s that really get home with respect to this particular sub genre superhero story. And as much darkness as there has been shared in a various directions of the superhero genre, it never really hit the advanced powered tech end of the genre. Warren slams into it with quite a bit of detail. The contrast between powered armor and standard military, and a very vulnerable baby for some very compelling action horror.
Of course, the action horror is only as good as the art that brings it to the page. Thankfully,Mobili keeps it all in perspective. The cold, emotional illness of those in powered armor is contrasted against the panicked faces of those who aren't so protected, but still have some way to defend themselves and then admitted it all, Mobili does breathtaking job of contracting all of that against the crushingly vulnerable presence of this baby. It's a study in contrast and danger as everything slams into the page.
The series enters its third act next issue. 2/3 of the story down and it feels like it's really built up a solid rhythm. It will be interesting to see where the plot goes from here. It would be all too easy to place this through the pages of a standard three act Hollywood structure every three issues being a different act. It really looks like the creative team, looking to do something much more sophisticated in Texter than standard Hollywood movie, though. There is reality here every reason to believe that there might not necessarily be a totally happy ending. It's nice to see some darkness hit the page.
