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THE ESTABLISHMENT #1
"Man in a Suitcase"
Recommended (7/10)
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DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions
Writer: Ian Edginton
Artist: Charlie Adlard
Colors: Wildstorm FX
Letters: GH
Editor: Jeff Mariotte
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
As a huge fan of what was The Authority, I have viewed these spinoffs with a mix of trepidation and excitement, especially since The Monarchy came out and disappointed me so much. The Establishment is not as disappointing as The Monarchy, but neither is it as incredible as the early issues of The Authority, and Edginton is falling into the common
trap these days of rolling out his series and concept a bit slowly, which can be
death in this market. However, there's enough here to keep me intrigued as far
as the characters and concepts go, and the artwork is simply amazing, some of
the best work Charlie Adlard has done. Really, my opinion could go either way on
this series, but at this point I'm inclined to say it's going to be a fun ride.
Unlike The Authority, which arrived with a bang and quickly established who all the characters were and what they were about, The Establishment is playing it coy. We get to know a couple of characters,
including former gangster Charlie Arrows, the mysterious young Ian who works for
a mysterious organization and a band of monsters headed for a sleepy town in
England named Hobb's Bay. There are two stories going on here, one is the
quieter tale of a man who has lived a hard life trying to settle into something
more peaceful toward the end of that life and the other the story of things from
another world closing in on an innocent town while a mysterious organization
tries to protect them. Both stories are very interesting.
Arrows is referred to in the introductory
column as the hero, and he does get a fair amount of focus. Edington cleverly
works in his background with an older barkeep who relates his story to a younger
barmaid, and Adlard really gives Arrows a look of a haunted and tired old man.
I'm reminded of John Constantine or any number of old spies, someone who has
seen too much and done too much and now realizes just how much normal life they
missed out on. The opening shot, of a super-heroic version of an atomic bomb
test, gives us a glimpse into the kind of things that Arrows has seen.
In addition, Edginton and Adlard are
playing with a familiar set of foes from the Wildstorm universe, probably the
oldest foes they have. But they're making them more than just silly movie
monsters, there's a nice sense of menace and wickedness to them, and the scenes
on the ship and right on the harbor are fantastic stuff. At this point, we don't
know exactly how they came to Hobb's Bay, but we know damn well why and it's a
frightening thought. I'm eager to see what happens after the grisly attempted
defense of the town toward the end of the issue.
For me, though, the big star of this work
is Charlie Adlard. His work is fantastic, moody and evocative of the setting and
the times. There isn't much in the way of costumed action at first, just a bunch
of regular folks walking around and dealing with life, and Adlard does a
terrific job of conveying the different faces, body language and emotions. He's
certainly up to the more strange elements as well, though, whether it's the
freighter on the Irish Sea or the battle between the aliens and the armored
youth toward the end. Credit must also go to Wildstorm FX for the beautiful
color effects on the armor.
While I do think that Edginton is trying a little too hard to be mysterious about everything, and could potentially alienate some readers in the same way that Doselle Young has with The Monarchy, overall this is an intriguing start to a
new series, and I'm anxious to see what's next.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
