Captain Victory #1
Story & Script by Sterling Gates
Art Direction & Story by Alex Ross
Art by Wagner Reis
Colors by Inlight Studios
Letters by Simon Bowland
Featuring the concepts & characters of Jack Kirby
Covers by Alex Ross, Michael Avon Oeming, Sean Chen, and Wagner Reis
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 16th, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

I have to admit, I’ve fallen a little behind in the Kirby: Genesis universe, but Captain Victory #1 really intrigued me when it was announced a few months ago, and I’m happy to report, it is exactly what I’d hoped that it would be. A good old-fashioned sci-fi action comic, with a few twists and turns thrown in to make things interesting.

Writer Sterling Gates, scripting from a story by himself and Alex Ross, delivers a very different kind of space hero. As always, I try to stay away from any major spoilers, but in the first two pages Gates lets us know that Captain Victory is NOT you’re average Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon-type space hero. He’s a hero with a past, a very DARK past that has and will come back to haunt him. What I liked most about the character of Captain Victory is that he’s not a Superman-type “boy scout,” but he’s not the Venom/Wolverine”anti-hero” either. That being said, he does have a questionable sense of morals that will really throw the reader for a loop. Even though it was the first issue, I was a little disappointed that the Galactic Rangers weren’t formerly introduced and explored a little more.

Art-wise, I’m a little on the fence about this issue. Wagner Reis doesn’t try and ape Kirby, which is good, but he also doesn’t let enough of his own style come through. Most of the book is drawn in Reis’ style, but what’s strange is that there’s characters in panels that are drawn as if Kirby drew them, then in the very next panel they’re drawn totally different. It’s a little jarring because it’s consistent throughout the whole issue. Hopefully, in future issues his style improves.

All in all, not bad for a first issue. There’s a lot of information thrown at you during the story, both via flashbacks and dialogue, but it never seems confusing or muddled. I have a really strong feeling that while this issue is a tiny bit of a let down, the title is going to get a lot better as time goes on. It’s one to keep an eye one, that’s for sure.