OK, we all know that Sean McKeever has a talent for teen drama. He made a name for himself on the small-press The Waiting Place, and more recently, turned heads with Sentinel with its strong and believable emphasis on a high-school sophomore's life. But I figured there was no chance McKeever would pull it off again with a story about a diverse culture of superhumans living on the moon. I figured McKeever would be delving into a new genre altogether with this new series.
I was wrong. McKeever is still playing to his strengths here, and the emotional heart of this story may prove to be his most poignant yet. It's about living up to expectations, about disappointment and about moving on. McKeever delivers the most human take on the Inhumans to date.
San has it all figured out. He's a top athlete and his father is a member of the Imperial Guard in Attilan, the home of the Inhumans. San can feel it in his heart that once he goes through the Inhuman rite of passage -- exposure to the power-inducing Terrigen Mists -- that he'll follow in his father's footsteps and amaze Attilan with his accomplishments. Funny thing about life, though... it doesn't always turn out the way you expect it, even when you live on the Moon.
Matthew Clark attracted a bit of attention with his highly detailed artwork on Wonder Woman a few years ago, but more recent efforts, like Felon, didn't quite turn as many heads. Well, Clark is back with a vengeance here. His highly detailed style and eye for organic, natural design work well with the alien culture of the Inhumans. In the opening "sports" scene, his work reminded me of a cross between the styles of Phil (New X-Men) Jimenez and Phil (Howard the Duck) Winslade. Afterward, he drenches the book in a slightly sombre mood that suits the tone of the plot and narration. The colors achieve a nice balance between the alien setting and the more grounded, natural tone of San's life and the society in which he lives.
The greatest strength of the book is the narration. San's voice boasts a natural, everyday tone that makes for plausible dialogue and narration. The plot is more than a little predictable, but the genuine tone that McKeever fosters here more than makes up for it.
My parents wanted me to be a lawyer. Though I wrote the LSAT, I knew law wasn't the direction for me. Thankfully, I discovered that writing -- and journalism in particular -- was the realm in which I belonged, and things have worked out quite well. But San's disappointment in this story -- both in himself and in his father's reactions -- rings incredibly true. Any reader will be able to see something of himself or herself in San's story, and that gives the title a powerful start.
