Huck Vol. 1 Review

Written by: Mark Millar

Art by: Rafael Albuquerque

Publisher: Image Comics

Huck is the story of a mentally challenged gas station employee with incredible super powers; strength, speed and the ability to find anything with instinct. Being a kind soul, Huck uses his abilities to help his local townsfolk, but when a new neighbor outs Huck to the press he begins a journey of discovery to find his true family.

Huck is written very much in the style of Millar’s other work, in fact knowing the premise and that Millar wrote this you could probably largely predict many of the story beats and sentimental moments. The book’s quality is indeed very much hinged on how much you buy into the sentiment, with much of the graphic novel feeling like a feel good 80s movie, right down to the comical Russian villains. There’s nothing overly wrong with this, especially as I know  people out there will love this book for exactly that reason. I will also admit there were times I couldn’t help but crack a smile or feel something move in my long dead heart when reading the book. Huck is a character who’s hard to hate, he’s very caring and his gestures are inventive enough to really make you root for him throughout the journey. Unfortunately there are many occasions in the book Millar takes this too far, making the story feel a little phoned in. 

The main problem is that Millar often times sacrifices storytelling for sentiment. For example in one scene when Huck is saying goodbye to his adopted family he tells them that if he finds his parents nothing will change and that they’ll be his real family. A sweet, touching moment. In the very next scene however, Huck tells his travelling companion how he wants to find his family so “he won’t feel so alone”. This doesn’t feel like it’s showing another side of Huck, but instead simply contradicting everything we’ve seen so far, as Huck is happy and very loved by his town, but Millar elects to ignore this so he can have another emotional moment. It reeks of trying too hard to pluck at the audience’s heartstrings, especially when there already are a few genuinely sweet moments that carry the book on it’s own.

This also leads to some overall weak characterization, as likeable as he is,  Huck is presented as pretty much the perfect character, while everyone around him who’s not as perfect as him is presented as mean and manipulative, hurling insults like “retard” at him to show how much we should dislike them. It just feels a bit lazy and makes it hard to get really invested in the book’s characters. If we’d seen maybe a few scenes of Huck maybe making a mistake, such as trying to help someone but accidentally making it worse and then later putting things right then that might have offered some good character development. There are a few scenes were they try and make Huck look scared by the world outside his hometown, but there’s never really time to dig into his character and see how he feels about things since the plot moves at such a breakneck pace. As a result of this, all the events in the book feel a little inconsequential. Despite the big changes taking place in Huck’s life, there’s not enough time to see how his life or outlook on life is changing as a result, making it feel like the plot beats are only there to get us to the next overly emotional moment. I’m probably coming off as a bit harsh, as there are in fact some nice twists along the way and I am glad I read this, it’s just hard to shake the feeling that the book is being emotionally manipulative rather than truly making you invested as a reader

The book’s strongest feature, as is usually the case with Millar’s books, is the art by Rafael Albuquerque. Millar is famous for collaborating with top artistic talent, and Albuquerque is no exception. His style nails the gentle, feel good quality Millar’s script attempts to. There’s lots of big wide screen action, but also that charming, earthly quality that makes you feel warm and fuzzy in the scene’s set in Huck’s hometown. His character designs are also very nicely handled, especially Huck who just looks charming and warm in every scene he’s in. He radiates likability much more naturally in the art than in the script. Special shout-out has to go to colorist Dave McCaig who truly brings out the best in Albuquerque’s work. Lots of nostalgic oranges and other sunset like colors well capture the emotion, while still managing to make things look harshly grey and oppressive in the later issues. It’s a very impressive looking book which makes it a consistently enjoyable read. 

Huck is like the comfort food of comics, it’s overly sweet and probably not good for you, but is undeniably enjoyable and is a little bit of a guilty pleasure. There’s a certain charm to the book, even if a lot of the times it feels like it’s trying a little too hard to be liked. Much like the main character itself though, it’s heart is largely in the right place, so it’s hard to be too mean towards it. I’m glad I read Huck, and would maybe feel generous enough to give it a recommendation as long as you understand what you’re getting in to. It’s simple, charming and fun, if a little overcooked.