My first exposure to Rose and Thorn was in Booster Gold, where Dan Jurgens was doing a revised take on both the dual-personality vigilante and her long-time foes the 100. I don't know if this is meant to be a flashback origin or a completely new version of the character, but I suspect the latter, which is fine, because she hardly has a long history of great stories that would be a shame to lose. What's important is that Simone writes a darker story here than I'm used to seeing from her, and it's a good straightforward heroic origin story as well, giving us a real feel for the danger that Thorn presents, not just her potential for good as a vigilante. There's also some really nice artwork from newcomer Melo and veteran inker Dan Green, with some great realism that helps to make the more horrifying elements of the story come to life.
The crazy hero is a tradition. The Punisher, Batman, most of your vigilantes tend to be on the driven side, with a drive that can look like psychosis in the hands of some writers. Thorn is that kind of vigilante as well, except that she's born out of actual insanity as much as she is an event that would drive most normal people to insanity. This story takes place inside a mental institution for dangerous young girls, and it shows Rhosyn (Thorn's future alter-ego) as a dangerously violent young woman lashing out in the wake of her parents' murder.
While Rhosyn is believably dangerous, however, Simone wisely lets us into her head so that we can see the scared little girl underneath. Because she's asked to keep a journal by her psychiatrist, the narration feels natural, rather than intrusive, and we see that Rhosyn's violence comes from feeling like the world is completely out of her control. She had her simple joys, like gardening, taken away from her by murderous thugs, and though in her mind she still enjoys those things, her justifiable anger gets the better of her over and over again. Simone hits the symbolism and the elements that will make Thorn pretty hard in this issue, from her love of gardening to her father's role as a cop to the role of the 100 in her parents' murders, but while this does make the book feel a little like every super-hero origin story you've ever read, it's also a pretty impressive example of putting all the information in and getting a lot of story into the first issue.
As always, Simone's characterization is pretty solid as well. Rhosyn's dual nature is very believable, and there's a sinister manipulative vibe coming off of Dr. Chritlow that hints at the problems to come with his radical therapy. Even the "bad guy" of this first issue, though a little bit too archetypal institutional bad girl, has a few moments of humanity where we see that she's lashing out as much as Rhosyn is.
That last bit is as much a function of Melo's artwork as it is Simone's writing. Melo loves to focus in on the eyes, showing them widening or narrowing, indicating the thoughts of the characters very clearly. A lot of the real action in Rose and Thorn #1 takes place in the characters' heads, but Melo gives us a glimpse into what's going on by looking at these characters' eyes as they process their thoughts. I'm actually pretty happy with Melo and Green's work overall, and the book has nice bright colors by Alex Bleyaert that works despite the darker tone of the story.
