Written by: Gail SimoneI took an oath a few months ago….to keep away from the rumors, previews, spoilers, and anything else leaking out onto the internet concerning big events in comics. It’s been nice – being taken by complete surprise in many of the comics I’m reading. However, the only bad thing about keeping a turned eye to everything that’s up-and-coming is when I neglect the cool stuff.
All I knew about Gail Simone’s “The Movement” was simply that she’s writing it. It wasn’t until YESTERDAY when a fellow comic book nerd reminded me that it was hitting the stands TODAY. I would have completely passed it over had she not reminded me, and now that I’ve read it, my hope of having another title filled with incredible anti-heroes has resurfaced, and all is good in the world.
What’s different about this title by Simone is the amount of new characters coming out of Coral City. Not every character’s been named yet, but I’m sure they’ll be unveiled as issues come out. Without a doubt, however, the cast is an intriguing one – there’s an Earth mover called Tremor, a self-dubbed Prince of Rats named Mouse, a wearer of a set of mechanical wings named Katharsis, and Virtue who’s seemingly the leader of this mysterious band of “heroes.” The one caught in the middle of everything is named Burden – or, at least, that’s what his parents call him – and it’s uncertain at this point as to what his role in the story will be. We do know that he hasn’t learned to control his powers, which is what’s caused this presumed demon possession.
Compacted into this issue are a few more mysteries that will undoubtedly reveal themselves as this series pushes forward, but this series opener has definitely peaked my interest. Secret Six was great because of its “sketchy” nature. It didn’t rely on heroes doing things the honorable way. Everything the Six did fit right into their evil-doer background, yet you were compelled to like all of them. Likewise, The Movement takes on that same role, but it obvious Simone is making this title excitingly fresh and different. You’ll question the actions of the heroes and finish this book unsure of what their motives are, aside from wanting to do the job the cops aren’t willing or able to do. But if you’re a fan of Gail Simone, issue #1 will be literary candy for your brain.
Simone is a master of creating characters we can immediately invest in. We’ve been trusting her for this long and she seldom writes anything that doesn’t get your blood pumping. Taking the theme of cop brutality and corruption and bringing in a team of young heroes daring enough to put stop to it is a much needed topic to be addressed. Now we’ll see how far the corruption goes and if the Movement can do anything about it.
10 out of 10 stars
