The Answer #1
Story by Mike Norton & Dennis Hopeless
Written by Dennis Hopeless
Art by Mike Norton
Colors by Mark Englert
Letters by Crank!
Cover by Mike Norton
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 23, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

After reading The Answer #1, I have more questions than when I started. Thankfully, one of the questions that I do NOT have is “will this book be entertaining enough to hold my interest?”

Dennis Hopeless and Mike Norton create a fun, entertaining, creative, and interesting universe in this premiere issue to the 4-issue limited series. The book opens with a flash forward to the end of the issue, and honestly, that almost NEVER works for me, except it did here, because, for once, you can’t figure thing out 3 pages into the book and the scene is more of a flash forward to the last few pages then to the ending. I’m a bigger fan of the books heroine, Devin, than I thought I’d be. She is the typical “nerd girl,” but she’s written SO well that I found her both interesting and endearing. I think my only problem with this book, comes in the amount of panels that The Answer actually appears in. Hopefully, in future issues, he’ll be in more. The character itself is VERY fun and a could be a new superhero archetype. But, we’ll have to figure him out, first.

There’s a reason Mike Norton won an Eisner, you know. I hope I’m not giving away an award committee secret when I tell you WHY he won that award – he draws things. He draws things really, really good. Here, there’s no exception to that, whether it’s “boring” scenes in a library or tons of ninja-like commandos attacking a man dressed in black spandex, it’s fantastic to look at. It’s weird to see him go from something that’s so totally the opposite of this book, like him and Tim Seeley’s creator-owned series Revival, to this and never miss a beat.

Overall, a great start to what looks like a really good series. Good, solid, writing. Great art. It’s got everything that you wanted in a comic book but never thought to ask for. Just when you think you’ve got the answer, The Answer will change the question!