The mystery deepens!
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Tyler Crook
Letterer: Tyler Crook
What They Say:
Unbelievable Unteens comic-book artist Jane Ito finds her world flipped upside down after discovering that the heroes from her comics were not so fictional and she herself was one of them and had powers. As she and the team of underdog heroes once known as the Unteens begin to come back together they slowly discover what happened to them, why their memories were wiped, and who was behind this evil plot.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The way that Jeff Lemire is able to expand and introduce new things over time through the Black Hammer books really does deliver a great experience, one that I had quietly hoped for when the property first debuted and have come to love over the last few years. Lemire’s script is solid and engaging but once again is made all the more enjoyable by Tyler Crook’s artwork. His work is often far more intense than I’m usually game for, but the result is something with real passion, detail, and true artistry to it. I really like his illustrative approach on this one with the color design that gives it a really neat cohesive look and feel that hits up some prior age nostalgia but is still very much in the here and now.
With so much set up in the first installment with its focus on Jane and her comics and the discovery that a lot of it really happened, the first half or so of this issue focuses on another of the team members with Straka. We get a lot of really great pages showing the 60s style comic book playing out with a training session among the group and see how they interact with each other, the relationship dynamics, and so much more. It really does remind you of the books of this time and how the dialogue was written. A lot is covered here in the way the group tensions exist and the bit with how Snapdragon was struggling with her powers – and that her father is one that’s running the whole team and all.
When that shifts to the real world, it’s Jane having figure out where Straka is in his normal form, aka Karl, and she brings back all the memories flooding into him. It’s a kind of sweet moment because of their in-comics relationship that existed but how time has changed that as they’re both older and have moved on, what with him being married and with kids. With Jack in tow, they’re looking for Kid Boom now, aka Carlos, and he’s been found thanks to a little help from Lucy Weber, which gives us a nice tie to the core series itself. Kid Boom’s tale in the real world is very different however as we see that they’re not under the haze that they were, and that just opens us up to all kinds of questions. The shock on Jack’s face alone is priceless and the further reveal only makes you want the next issue all the more quickly.
In Summary:
The opening installment of this series was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed getting the old-style comics presented here to clue us into the dynamic of how these characters existed previously. I love how it captures the time but it also works as a fun shortcut to get us to the present where things are nowhere near the same but those things are all flooding back into their minds and it’s impacting things. Lemire’s script really does a great job here in presenting both styles and Crook does a fantastic job of taking that and elevating it to a whole other level.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 8th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
