Rat City #1 Review

By Daniel Schwartz
Reviewer

THE PREMISE:

Welcome to the newest chapter in the saga of the Hellspawn. Many people thought that Al Simmons’ Necroplasmic Detonation just impacted him, his world, and his time. They were wrong.

Far in the future, Special Forces soldier Peter Cairn has just received prosthetic legs after being severely injured during his last mission. Little did he know that Necroplasmic Detonation had impacted the nanites in his legs over 100 years ago. After a stressful and crazy night pushes his mind and body to the limit, he discovers glowing green eyes and a new darkness inside him. He is the Spawn of the future.

THE WRITING:

As far as origin stories go, this one piqued my interest. Knowing that Al Simmons had to die and go to Hell to get his powers, I expected Peter to die on every page. Spoiler Alert: he does not. That will be one of the ongoing mysteries in this new series. How did Peter inherit this power without dying?

Writer Erica Schultz crafts a great back story for the future’s new Hellspawn. She draws readers into Peter’s final mission and takes the opportunity to introduce some friends and potential new foes. She also sets up many stories and questions that will likely be fleshed out as the series progresses. Was everyone who got prosthetics at that lab impacted, or was it just Peter? Because he is not dead, will Hell want its power back? How can he help the downtrodden citizens of RatCity with this new power? With this fantastic intro, those are all questions I want the answers to.

THE ARTWORK:

How do you make a Spawn spinoff story look cool without introducing a Spawn visual until the last panel? By having Ze Carlos do the illustrating. The visuals from the first page through the last panel draw the reader into a wild, futuristic military mission through Peter’s initial transformation. There are few instances where the internal artwork is as good as the cover artwork. This is one of them.

THE VERDICT:

This new chapter in the Spawn universe is off to a great start. With a compelling origin story and outstanding artwork throughout, RatCity #1 gives fans a futuristic and fun reason to keep coming back month after month. This was an outstanding comic!

Rating: FIVE Pastrami Nations out of FIVE