There’s no way that I’ve not read a comic book since April. What the hell am I even doing calling myself a comic book critic? But fear not fans, for I am back on the comic book reviews. I say that, but I can’t promise you guys anything after this review. Who knows what the future holds. Anyways, I recently decided that I should start reading novels for characters that I’ve not read stories of, for a long time and that led me back to Static Shock!
‘Static: Season 1’ acts as a sort of retelling of Static’s origin story. The need for it, is probably because this Static Shock novel comes under the Milestone Comics banner which was relaunched a few years ago. It starts with young Virgil Hawkins, going through the same troubles that most high schoolers are going through; trying to maintain good grades, trying to impress pretty girls and attempting to avoid school bullies. But one evening, when he attends a protest, he is attacked by police who are using new weapons designed by Alva Industries. The smoke in the gas canisters begins to mess with Virgil, and other kids’ DNA turning them into metahumans. For Virgil this manifests as the ability to control electricity. For a while he seems unstoppable. That’s until he runs into his bully, Frank, who has also developed powers and is now going by the codename Hotstreak. Virgil realizes that he’s in over his head and turns to pseudo-mentor Curtis Metcalf, the man blamed for the design of Alva Industries new weapons. Metcalf is able to provide Virgil with the location of one of his abandoned labs where Virgil finds gear to take his powers to the next level. The only problem is that this puts him in the crosshairs of a mysterious government agency that wants to capture all these new meta kids, to see if they can weaponise them. Classic. With the help of Hotstreak they’re able to take down a whole bunch of these kids and naturally, Virgil, who is now going by the codename Static, is his number one target. Can Static master his powers quick enough to survive? And what is going to become of these new meta kids out on the loose now?
I have to say, when it was announced that Milestone Comics was coming back, I was pretty happy. As someone from an ethnic minority living here in the Western World, I think sometimes it’s easy to have culture and identity thrown away, and I’m hoping Milestone continues for a long time. In terms of the novel itself, I did enjoy it. It’s a good start point for anyone looking to get into the character. There’s a ton of character development and the few interactions with other characters who are under the Milestone banner was promising. I think this series could go a long way!
In terms of the artwork, it was really interesting, because there were parts of it that looked like they were drawing a manga. I think it works well for a character like Static, because of his youth and inspiration. In terms of the covers, they were much the same, although I really did like the variant covers. Overall, this was a good starting point for Static and excited to see where it goes from here!
Favourite Panel:
I liked that these guys had all this courage about an unknown threat!
Favourite Character:
I actually don’t know the name of the character. But it’s the guy who’s fighting for good. Clearly.
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★★½
Character Development: ★★★★
Artwork: ★★★½
Enjoyability: ★★★½
Re-readability: ★★★½
Level: Beginner