A new mission as the team becomes a trio.
Creative Staff:
Story: Max Bemis
Art: Eryk Donovan
Colors: Cris Peter
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Bill & Slim, your favorite afterlife dynamic duo, are back! Only now it’s Dynamic Duo + duo’s mutual ex-girlfriend/wife from an alternate universe. Plus, like, 400 dimensions worth of emotional baggage. Plus rocket launchers. Also, there are aliens. So…welcome back to HEAVY, everyone!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first storyline for Heavy was one that won me over easily even if it didn’t go in the kind of larger and expansive direction that I thought (and hoped) it would. What Max Bemis did was to take it down some dark and twisty paths that certainly worked well for and made for some really crazy installments. Eryk Donovan gave it a really great distinctive look with the character designs but also in being able to really get creative with some of the alternate worlds and timelines and their designs, both for people in general but also the settings. It really worked well to make things feel familiar but otherworldly in all the right ways.
With Sharon now a part of things, there’s a whole new dynamic as she along with Bill and Slim have to save various timelines. Not that she’s interested in doing it the way that the boss wants it done because she’s just more intent on doing things how she wants to. As we see when she’s getting chewed out, she gives back just as hard by talking bout how badly things went in her own life that has put her in this position. And that she’s clearly not going to compromise on things when she sees really bad stuff going down, which she does on their initial mission when their main asset to protect is just as horrible as the bad guys and part of a society as a whole that needs to be destroyed instead of being protected. And Sharon is in a position to make it happen.
The mission itself is a lot of fun as it goes big and crazy in all the right ways where the guy being saved is key to events in the near future that will fend off an alien invasion. Donovan delivers some great action pages and designs for everything that makes it an absolute delight. But I really appreciated a lot of the inner monologue we get throughout the book focusing on how Bill is dealing with this other-reality version of his ex-wife that he’s now working with. He has no desire toward her because she’s nothing like the woman he loved and in a lot of ways he’s actually pretty scared of her in fact. I like how this kind of transitions a little bit during it, and now puts Slim in a bad position because he has the jealousy ball, and there’s a chance that Bill’s own feelings may change a bit as this working relationship goes on.
In Summary:
I really enjoyed the first storyline for Heavy with its twists and turns along the way and how it ended in bringing Sharon into the picture. Our first full-on experience with her here is definitely interesting as we see her in a couple of different lights and how it’s going to really mess with the dynamic between the two men. Sharon’s definitely a catalyst for change! Bemis’ script moves pretty well here and I definitely like the silly crazy aspects of their mission, which Donovan delivers on in creating both the cast and the look of it all. This is one of those books where you’re just totally along for the ride and all the strange directions it goes and it works really well.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Vault Comics | Amazon
Release Date: May 12th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
