The Next Men return but the world is definitely not what it seems for Jasmine.
What They Say:
A NEW CHAPTER begins in the lives of the survivors of Project Next Men. New friends, new foes, and a tale that literally twists time itself out of joint. They said it would never happen, but it has! John Byrne has returned to his classic creation! This is where it STARTS, this is where you want to BE!
The Review:
Next Men was one of those books in the 90’s that I was completely into as I was and am a fan of John Byrne’s art style and the stories he tells. I had picked up the first miniseries digital issue on the IDW Publications app awhile ago and enjoyed it but was more intrigued by the fact that after so long away from it, Byrne was coming back and I wanted to see how he would handle its return. With the original book having a relatively low print run amid a very difficult marketplace, a continuation of the story would necessitate a recap of some sort but it would have to do more than just that. And unfortunately, this is where the first issue of the series really falls down because this should have been either a special or an issue zero in order to set the tone right.
The series has a difficult start as it has the main group of characters, the Next Men themselves, waking up under the guidance of Aldus and a medical staff that’s checking them out to see how well the stim suits have worked. It’s not a pleasant experience but the team is stretching it out and generally feeling well. Except for Jasmine who feels like nothing is right here, from Danny not having his hyperdeveloped leg muscles and to the simple fact that Aldus Hilltop is there. Add in that Tony is alive, albeit in a wheelchair, and it’s all too much for Jazz to handle and she lashes out. Similar to many wake-up scenes in various books and movies, her sense of panic makes sense, even more so for this series considering the past that she’s had both in general and with Hilltop himself.
There’s a surreal feeling to these early pages as Jazz does her best to get away and there are hints of something being seriously wrong here, but having her subdued and slightly medicated allows her to settle down some. And this is where the book is both good and bad as Aldus manages to coax her into telling her view of events after Nathan kicks things off. This is a very needed segment, which runs about eleven pages, as it recaps essentially a lot of the big moments of the original series which ran some thirty-odd issues and comes from Jazz’s point of view. The good side is that we need to know all of this so we can reconnect with these characters and move forward with them. The downside is that it shows just how awkward some of the events have been in that original series. The condensed version doesn’t show a lot of the nuance of it all, the little moments that filled it out so that it wasn’t seemingly so rushed and over the top, which is why I think they really needed the same length of pages here to do a full on recap that lets it flow better. There are some nice hooks in here, especially at the two epilogue scenes, which if you’re a fan of the original will definitely draw you back. For new readers, it’s really had to say whether this will work or not.
Digital Notes:
My experiences with the IDW Publishing app have been mediocre at best since its launch and this is the second purchased book I’ve gotten through it. The style of how its read is disconcerting and problematic at times, such as one of the early pages where it’s a double page spread but it doesn’t automatically either shrink it to fit (which you would then flip to read in full) or just flip automatically. Because of the layout of the page, you don’t realize that it is a double page spread until you get to the other page and get just how disjointed the storytelling is because of it. I also really dislike the opaque panes that they have on the sides of the pages as I find them distracting. And when you get to the end of the book and skim to the front cover again, you can’t turn backwards. You have to either swipe your way all the way back or tap and use the slide bar. With further exposure I hope some of these issues will be less problematic and draw my attention less to the issues and more to the story itself.
On the plus side, even though the issues are being released over a month after the print, the price is half of the print version and that makes it an easy pickup.
In Summary:
The return of Next Men to the world of publishing was something of a surprise considering how long it has been off the market and even more so that it picks up like it does here. For longtime fans, you definitely want to go and grab all your old issues and burn through them and roll into this to see what little changes by perspective you can see from Jasmine’s story. For newer readers, I’m hard pressed to recommend this unless you want to spend some time really working at it since it has a rich history to it. I still think that IDW Publishing made a mistake by going with this as the first issue rather than a special or introductory piece, but the ball is rolling and John Byrne has brought back a title that I’ve always wanted to see continue. It’s a rocky start for both fans and new readers, but the payoff in the original was substantial so I have high hopes here as well.
Grade: B-
