I'm not a fan of Top Cow's Kewl approach to super-heroes, and I found Marc Silvestri has a limited range as an artist, presenting the same figures and designs over and over again. Still, attach Mark Waid's name to a project and you'll get my attention. This cheap preview issue is an excellent marketing tool, and this book deserves it, since Waid's not a name one would normally expect to see on a Top Cow book. In the end, the script is entertaining and boasts a couple of strong characters and a nicely grounded scene, but the super-hero plot elements and characters strike me as rather generic. This is typical super-hero fare, but it's solid as well. For a quarter, the reader definitely gets more than his or her money's worth here. I'm still on the fence, though, when it comes to plunking down a few bucks for the regularly priced issues to come.
There are no super-heroes, no colorfully clad and caped figures soaring across the sky to come to our rescue. But there are superhumans, dubbed "Ultra-Sapiens" by the government. We just don't know about them. They are kept hidden from the world, but a team of government-sponsored Hunter-Killers occasionally venture out to track down and eliminate the threat posed by rogue ultras. But as one bloodthirsty monster discovers, the Hunter-Killers aren't the only ones doing the hunting.
Silvestri's super-hero character designs are basically rehashes of what we've seen from him in the past. Long, feral hair for the badass guys and implausibly revealing outfits for the women are the rule of thumb, it would seem. Glowing hands are a big thing for him too, apparently. I do appreciate the fact that he conveys the age of the couple at the end of the book clearly, and he captures the quiet, middle-class serenity of that scene's backdrop quite well. The marks that identify people as Ultra-Sapiens is far too vague, though; I wish there was a clearer symbol there. Also, Firchow colors Ellis's hair inconsistently; it's always brown, but the shade shifts throughout the last scene.
Waid's writing in that heartland/family sequence is strong as well. One can't help but connect with and like the character immediately. Hell, one could even say the reader will envy them for achieving the sort of happiness and playfulness late in life we all hope to find. The interaction between husband and wife and between parents and child is idealized, yes, but it's the sort of thing to which the reader can relate. I also love how Waid doesn't clearly spell out what Ellis's power is, adding a strong sense mystery to the mix.
The core premise seems to have a Suicide Squad meets manga monster riff on the go. It's competent stuff, but it's rather familiar as well. I wasn't drawn into the Hunter-Killers' world, and I didn't get a clear sense of who they are and what they can do. I am curious about Ellis's story, and if the series were to focus on that more down-to-earth character, I could see myself becoming more interested in this property, as opposed to viewing it as a typical badass Top Cow team book. 6/10
