When the man you hate is a pretty great partner.
Creative Staff:
Story: Max Bemis
Art: Eryk Donovan
Colors: Cris Peter
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Saddled with the worst possible partner (for potentially all of eternity), Bill must decide whether he can give his greatest enemy a clean slate and earn his own fresh start beyond the Big Wait. A hard decision to make while you’re jumping through time and space, knocking out teeth!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first issue of Heavy landed really well with me as what Max Bemis put together here had all the right ingredients to it. It wasn’t exactly self-referential but it had just enough of a wink and nod as we were introduced to the Heavy named Bill and his time-traveling assassination gig to help various realities. Bemis laid down a lot of foundation for the series as a whole here and opened it up wide so that Eryk Donovan could exploit it well visually. There’s an enjoyable world to play within here and by going to alternate timelines you get Donovan able to really cut loose at times with what Bemis comes up with.
The main piece of following the relationship that Bill is trying to get back to here with his wife made for a good core concept but having the man behind her death end up as his new partner and as a Heavy? That was the right kind of karma to hit. It’s a little convoluted at times early on here but we see a number of missions that the pair go on and the trouble that exists in how they operate so differently. And that does have Bill pushing back hard only to learn that the council likes what Slim is up to and how his psychopathic ways are bringing in results. But even Slim has to realize that his methods aren’t always the best and the book gives us a chance to see them finding a better balance since if Bill can make this work he’ll end up getting back to Sarah and that, quite frankly, is all that he really wants.
There’s a lot to like in the smaller scenes and struggles the two have and to see how Bill works through so many feelings over not just his presence but having to work with him and eventually realizing that he does admire him a whole lot because of his capabilities. The main focus that we get is a world they’re sent to where the sexual revolution didn’t end because STDs never became a thing and sex was a near-constant there. This does bring in some aspects of his past in regards to how the romantic triangle worked but mostly it’s dealing with a time-traveling enemy that showed up here to introduce something that takes advantage of all of this in a crazy way with giant semen-baked monsters and the like. It’s big and silly and crazy with the action but mixes in just enough surreal so that you have to laugh at it while getting serious internal narration elements.
In Summary:
Heavy landed in a big way for me with the opening issue with its concept that left me wanting a lot more. This issue takes the surprise at the end of that and makes it the main focus here with Bill now partnered up with Slim and watching all the fallout from it. Normally I might cringe from a story twist like this but it works exceptionally well here and Bemis has a hell of a lot of fun with it in how Bill struggles with the whole idea. Donovan’s artwork takes all the craziness to another level while still grounding it and making sure that there are enough perfect expressions coming from Bill to make you laugh at the best times. It’s a strong book that’s continuing on well here and has me hopeful that it can sustain it going forward while continuing to expand.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Vault Comics | Amazon
Release Date: October 28th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
