After an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Captain Midnight, a drunken Skyman accidentally kills an innocent man! Needing a new face for their initiative ASAP, the Skyman Program turns to US Air Force Sgt. Eric Reid: a wounded veteran on the ropes, looking for a new lease on life.
The Good
Cover– Smooth, slick and hot are the best words to describe Skyman #1 illustrated by Freddie Williams II and Dan Scott. It is worlds above the interior colors and art that much is for sure!
Interior Art- Manuel Garcia’s art is distinctive and they are complimented by the deep dark pen lines of ‘Bit’. The contrast of the deep darkness of these inks really allows the colors by Marta Martinez to bring Manuel’s art to glorious life.
Story– Talk about opening with a bang! We get an Aryan soldier spout off racist garbage after killing a black man and exposing the Skyman program and taped. This video goes viral on the internet. The program then bypasses the men who have been training since forever to be Skyman and use affirmative action to fix their problem. That man is Eric Reid. What unfolds is exploration of how the way the government treats soldiers as ‘property’ the impact of ‘affirmative action’ and the very real case of ever-present racism.
What’s Really Going on– With this issue the author has touched on affirmative action. Why are Black Heroes necessary? And most of all they expose to those who turn a blind eye even today that racism still exist in the United States regardless of Barack Obama being president of the Unites States. It did not disappear overnight. This book exposes the reality of having a black friend or a token black hero used as a ‘reason’ that you’re not racist is BS, straight up and down. This book throws it in your face by talking about it, exposing it and provoking (hopefully) thought about those realities.
Buy it– They love to say black books don’t sell so put your wallet where your mouth is! Buy it Here.
The Bad
Déjà vu– It may be bad on my part since I was just looking over my biography of M.A.N.T.I.S but there are a few similarities here and there which I’m sure some will not like.
Name– Skyman is a totally lame superhero name. I’m sorry it just is.
Consistency- The art was not as consistent or as tight as I would have liked. Manuel Garcia needs to tighten things up for later issues.
The Ugly
Joshua Hale Fialkov and Dark Horse comics Skyman is the slap in the face the industry needed. Skyman #1 is a wake up call of thought-provoking situations meshed with heroics in just the right way. Pure gold! A sure-fire hit! Skyman starts 2014 with a bang! 4/5
