Jupiter's Legacy #1 Review

JUPITER'S LEGACY #1

by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely

Change of plan, I was able to get my books a few days earlier than planned, so reviews are coming your way as soon as possible!

Remember when I said we'll be lucky if we get issues of this series annually? Well, let's just say, issue 2 was already delayed a month. Yeah.

Whenever I review a Mark Millar book, I have a hard time NOT being bias. Millar is just one of my favorite writers. He has written two of my favorite books in ALL of literature (not just comics): The Ultimates 2 and Kick-Ass. So with that out of the way, here's the actual review. This is one of the strangest Millar books I've ever read. While the script feels like pure Kick-Ass/Supercrooks, the plot feels like it was a rejected Grant Morrison or Peter Milligan tale. Yes, there is awesome superhero action, including a rather comical sequence in which a supervillain is dropped into a dream world while he's... You know what? Just read it. Now, in terms of actual story progression, we don't get much of it here, but just enough to make #1 feel like it's not filler. After reading the first 5 pages, you can tell this is going to be a very character driven story. A lot of this is spent to fleshing out the many characters. The most interesting of the bunch is an aging superhero named the Utopian who seems to have a god complex. Funnily enough, this is a Millar book, and it's rated M. It's not even that violent. The sexual themes are only implied, and profanity is (this is VERY uncharacteristic of Millar) absent. It's really strange. The only real flaw I have with this issue, is that some of the characters that seem like they are important, but barely get a backstory. And there's a lot of space in the book for it.

Frank Quitely is one of the best freaking artists in the business. I mean, if I see his name on ANYTHING, I'm putting down $2.99, $3.99, anything just to get a look at it. Quitely is the other half of the reason I've been so excited for this. If someone else was drawing this, I would be less anxious, and the book wouldn't be as good. Millar WROTE this for Quitely specifically. The exaggerated yet somehow grounded style of his art is perfect for the book. Quitely brings an undeniable sense of energy to this, and there's just something special about his characters I can't put my finger on.

Jupiter's Legacy is one of the best comics of the year so far. While I'm still a little hesitant on the score I'm giving, and I'm being cautiously optimistic about it, I loved Jupiter's Legacy #1. Buy it. Now.

STORY: 4.5/5

+ Character driven

+ A very interesting, albeit slow moving plot

+ The Utopian is a compelling character

- Some characters are as fleshed out as others

ART: 5/5

+ It's Quitely. Seriously.

+ Perfect for the book

+ Energetic and frantic
+ Exaggerated

VERDICT: Oh, to hell with it, 5/5