Resurrection Man #1

The history books of the comic industry (I studied those real hard before the SATs, whoops) are filled with characters and series that launched to little sales success or critical recognition. Most books get a few issues to try and win over and audience, and if it doesn't happen, the characters involved get shunted into limbo. If they're lucky, they may appear in the background of a crossover comic written by Geoff Johns, or Dan Didio may kill them off to engorge his murder boner. But in another example of just how weird this DC reboot is, they decided to bring back Resurrection Man, a character from the late 90s whose eponymous series lasted less than two years.

Points go to DC for at least getting the character's creators, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, to help bring the guy back. In the years since the series wrapped, Abnett and Lanning have raised their collective profile, as go-to guys for brainy-but-fun sci-fi in comics. This 1st issue makes use of their skills, as main character Mitch Shelley is a superhero who frequently dies in battle, only to be reborn with a different superpower. Over the course of this issue, we find out that this constant rebirth has made Mitch's soul a tasty treat for the forces of Heaven and Hell, bringing him into conflict with both angels and demons.

As I said before, DnA (as the writers are collectively called) have a good plot, solid dialogue, and enough action to entertain. The art is somehow both moody and clean, which a lot of artists have trouble with, so good job there, Fernando Dagnino.

Buy again: Yep, I'm down for more.

New reader friendly: Yeah, the comic's premise really lends itself to hitting the ground running with each new issue.