Review: Harbinger #1 – Available Oct 27th

Written by: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lansing
Art by: Robbi Rodriguez
Published by: Valiant Comics
On Sale October 27th

Hey! A timely review!

We are introduced to Peter Stanchek, a teenager who is having an off-panel conversation with someone about the time he “woke up “ and realized he didn’t have any memory of having fallen asleep. In fact, when he woke up, he had no idea where he was, or how he got there. He knew his name, and had the words ‘Be Better’ in his head.

In this past tense narrative, Peter explains how since he knew his name, he knew he was known as The Harbinger. Peter could feel that he had some sort of power. In testing it out, he ended up drawing attention to himself. The people of the city were NOT happy to see him. Peter doesn’t know why.

He ends up meeting a girl named CiCi who so far has been the only person to not fear him or hate him. She’s able to give him a quick run down of who he is and what sort of thing he is capable of. This leads to a major thing happening which leads to Peter coming to the present in his story.

All in all, it’s a good intro to a new “chapter “ in the character’s life. Instead of redoing an origin story, the writers are establishing a “he’s been around a while already, and we’ll get through the origin little by little “ kind of vibe here. For a first issue, the writing kept me interested enough that I actually would like to see issue #2.

The art style is great. It’s not trying to be hyper realistic with straight lines everywhere, the characters look like they fit with the environment they live in. I’ve seen comic art with serious looking environments and completely goofy looking characters. Everything just fits and works here. I love the expressions on the characters. The colors used in the environments really fit the vibe of the comic.

I’m giving this a 4/5 because I was a little bit confused by who Peter was talking to. A very minor issue however. I actually really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend.

Enjoy!