Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Trio #1

It's always nice to see new work by legendary artist / writer John Byrne, and Trio is a special treat for those who prefer his work when he "gets back to basics," as he famously did when he took over the Fantastic Four.

Trio is (at least so far) very much a traditional superhero comic - and I couldn't be happier.

Like any origin issue, this first issue is dedicated to introducing us to the new heroes (and apparently they aren't the only ones in the world they inhabit).

The three characters are introduced via fight sequence, of course. First we meet the small, powerful stone-like guy known as Rock (or "Three" by his teammates). "One" is the one-dimensional, elastic-ish woman known as Paper, and the other member of the Trio is, natch, Scissors (or "Two") - he has long blades for hands (sometimes) and is amazingly fast.

And if it seems a bit thin and predictable, well, you don't know Byrne very well.

He throws in twists and surprises along the way, and the issue ends with lots of questions to bring us back for the next round.

Oh, and we also have a major (and somewhat familiar-seeming) menace moving in on the city.

Byrne's art is as expressive and energetic as ever - he seems to be having a lot of fun here, and the characters and page layouts are lively.

If I were cynical, I would think that Byrne was having fun with readers, pressing those old familiar buttons, and creating characters that are similar to past successes without being direct copies.

But I prefer to think he just enjoys working with this kind of primal superhero format. I certainly had a heck of a lot of fun reading it!

Grade: A-

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