Comics are a perfect conduit for the era that produced them. Titles like WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA, or THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS are prominent examples of comics providing windows into the social/global issues dominating the public train of thought. Even ongoing series like HELLBLAZER give you an idea of what was happening in the world when their individual issues hit shelves. In my opinion, the influence of the comic book movie boom has watered down the potential for comics to serve as this kind of outlet.
Comics nowadays are about are all about BIGGER! Bigger battles, bigger enemies, bigger joined universes. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing… but with all this upsizing, I wonder if my kids will read the trade papers in 20 years and try to remember if the world truly revolved around grabbing the attention of card carrying A.D.D. sufferers like their father (I won’t deny it). In reality, the world can be a nice place. There’s a lot of good happening if you choose to look beyond the flash and doom that can seem so prevalent.
Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque decided to do something about this. The results, so far, have been downright refreshing.
HUCK #2 by Mark Millar & Rafael Albuquerque
The first issue of Huck was a surprise delight. It easily landed itself on my ‘Top 5 Individual Comics‘ list. This issue was actually released on December 16th so if I’d gotten to it before writing that list I may have needed to rethink my order.
Huck is a simple man with good values and otherworldly abilities. In this issue, his simple mission of doing one good deed a day is disrupted by his existence being revealed to the media. It’s an all-too-believable scenario with someone extraordinary being set upon by the vulturous modern media. He proves the purity of his heart by not letting any of this attention stop him from doing what he does best. My favorite moment was when Huck is swarmed by a group of desperate people turning to him for help. Rather than blowing them off or ignoring them, he grabs a pen and paper to make a list of what he must do.
The concept of Huck continues to defy the ‘bigger’ trend by embracing core values. Thinking of this supremely powerful being taking time to recognize even the smallest task is a joy. Leave it to Image Comics to continuously set new paths in every comic avenue. Mark Millar’s story is charming and is brought to life by Rafael Albuquerque’s consistent visual talent. I’ve felt legitimately upset after finishing each of the first two issues – upset because it seemed to end so quickly.
My rating of HUCK #2 is 9 out of 10. If you haven’t checked out this series yet, it’s not too late!
Belligerent Barnes 