Written by: Ed Brisson
Art by: Brian Level
Publisher: Image Comics
Let me just get this out of the way right now. The Mantle is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. It does some highly ambitious things and isn’t so much of a first issue as it is a brutal ass kicking of your expectations and what you thought you knew about superhero comics. And if it continues along this road it could easily become one of my favorite series.
The odd thing about The Mantle is that it isn’t necessarily anything new or extreme or shocking. This first issue introduces us to a man named Robbie who takes on the title of The Mantle after he comes into some new powers. You see, The Mantle isn’t so much a superhero as it is a powerful force that chooses its own host whom then becomes known as The Mantle. When its host dies, the power finds a new host. And Robbie just so happens to be the new host.
The introduction of Robbie and The Mantle is handled wonderfully well. Robbie gets zapped by The Mantle, Robbie becomes The Mantle, and Robbie sees a set of flashbacks in which he continually dies as various Mantle iterations. It’s a quick and easy way to make an impact on the reader and it’s then quickly explained in full by a trio of heroes who seem to following The Mantle as it finds its host. You see, The Mantle doesn’t just die doing random hero things. The Mantle is continually hunted by a being called The Plague. And if Robbie wants to survive, he needs to learn to use his powers because The Plague doesn’t wait around for heroes to come into their own.
Ed Brisson does a great job at realizing that the audience will be tired of typical superhero ideas and spends a large majority of time poking fun at them. For example, the background of The Mantle is fairly rushed with a tongue in cheek joke that the origin story is out of the way. There are also some fairly well placed jokes about the costume of The Mantle and the discovery of super powers. However, it’s after all the background stories and discovery of powers that the series turns itself on its head and really becomes a lot of fun.
The second half of the comic almost completely unravels everything we just learned but it’s impact is tremendous. When The Plague shows up we get a hint that The Plague is rather reluctant to keep killing The Mantle but considers it some duty that he has for unknown reasons. I’m curious to see where this goes because the idea is profoundly interesting. The Plague isn’t necessarily a arch-nemesis. He’s simply a man who has to track town a potentially sentient power force. It’s a great introduction of a villain and I honestly want to see more of him.
Yet even with an interesting idea and a stellar villain, it was the final few pages that absolutely sold this comic to me. There’s a twist that’s so ambitious (and shocking) for a first issue that it’s sure to become one of the most talked about introductions in the comic world. I found myself avidly flipping through the pages wondering how in the world Brisson was going to continue this series only to get my answer in a phenomenal final panel.
In the span of only a few pages, Brisson dropkicked everything you thought this series was about and then slapped you in the face with the reality of what The Mantle is bringing to the table.
Brian Level adds to the genius of The Mantle with some great art that really excels when he gets to do some larger panels. The flashback panel of all of the previous Mantles stands out in particular and visually he does a great job of showcasing how seemingly random The Mantle is choosing its hosts. Although, to be fair, Level has some very cool and varied character designs that are quickly turning this title into something memorable. The Plague stands out as a villain and I’m pretty fond of the design of a character named Kabrah who’s made almost entirely of muscles and acts as both the team tank and the brains of the team.
Level does a really great job with fight scenes and it’s going to be interesting to see what he’s capable of considering the very small amount of powers we’ve seen from any of the characters involved. The Mantle is continually drawn with very vibrant colors to showcase The Mantle’s powers (even before it finds a host) that that alone makes for a treat in what tends to be a very dark comic when it comes to art.
Some of Level’s best artwork also occurs in the last few pages and it’s his art that truly makes certain parts of the story stand out. The panel that changes the entire comic literally left my mouth open in shock and it was largely due to Level’s art. In fact, I found myself reading the entire page multiple times just because I was in such disbelief. And man does that get me excited for the rest of the series.
The Mantle is an odd comic that is sure to turn some people away due to how common and generic the plot sounds. Boy gets powers, boy has to learn powers, boy fights rival foe. And to be honest, the first half of the comic entirely subscribes to that idea (while simultaneously making fun of it). However, the last quarter of the comic completely sells it and makes me curious for the future of the series considering the fact that Brisson and Level simply do not care about your feelings, your expectations, or giving you a simple story. They’re here to shake things up and wreck everything you thought you knew about superhero comics.
