Review - Icarus #1

I think opening this review with a summary of the legend of Icarus would be cliche and unnecessary. I mean, who wants to be reminded of a guy in Greek mythology that let hubris get the best of him in getting him killed? Ryan Cody's book by the same name, Icarus #1, doesn't boast a similar hubris just yet. His work follows Major Riles and his team of assassins as they take out targets. It's not really his team per se, but he's definitely part of it and he knows his stuff. Icarus #1 is a solid first issue that definitely leaves you wanting more.

Cody pulls triple duty here as creator, writer and illustrator on Icarus #1, while Scott Godlewski contributed to the cover while Rico Renzi contributed color art for the cover. As mentioned earlier Riles is a member of a group of assassins that receive their targets via the somewhat classic "assassin laptop delivery system." His first target is an up and coming star athlete, although the reader isn't completely let into why he was a target. The second target is someone that Riles (Reggie Loomis) seems to have a past with, but again the motivations for targeting him are a little unclear. I have a feeling that future issues will shine more light on this relationship, but for the time being The Diabolist (Loomis' alias) is just another in Riles sights. He may be "replacing" another target that Riles has a past with, but again, nothing to report there.

There's also a female character named Manny that has prophetic dreams. I get the impression she works with Riles to help in finding his new targets, but other than there not much else is mentioned about her. We're also introduced to a few of Riles' teammates in addition to the two aforementioned targets and Manny, so there should be some pretty good storylines developing over the next few issues. The biggest question is what designates a target for Riles' group and how he became part of the group to begin with. The best part of the issue though has to be the cliffhanger ending and while I'm not going to spoil it for you I can say I was not expecting it at all.

Icarus #1 is a somewhat gritty assassin comic where there are solid characters being introduced. Cody's illustrations are a perfect fit for the subject matter. Speaking of matter, some of the assassination scenes are a little graphic, but they're not overly gory for the sake of being gratuitously violent. They're pretty much what you would expect would happen if a high caliber rifle round ripped through someone's head. The lines are very clean and are an interesting juxtaposition to the seemingly frenetic and violent storylines that the book focuses on.

I like the first issue and always welcome a comic that doesn't feature crazy superpowers. Cody definitely has something brewing here and I'm excited for the second issue. You can read the first issue for free online until January 3, 2011, at which point it'll be made available for order (along with T-shirts). I highly recommend checking it out as you're really only paying with your time to read it. A solid read. Interiors below.