Comic Book Reviews: THE RED WING # 2 (of 4) by Jonathan Hickman

Written by Jonathan HickmanPencils by Nicholas PittaraPublished by Image ComicsIn stores now! This book is so nearly brilliant. The basic premise is simple- The Red Wing are a fleet of pilots that are fighting a war throughout time, against an unknown enemy that hunts them down regardless of what century they run to. So far the book has been more than mind-boggling, featuring inventive twists and turns that leave you desperate to know where the zany plot is going next. What's even more impressive is that this book seems to actually be about something- exploring the nature of war and humanity in a fashion that, somehow, doesn't seem derivative. However, the story is let down by two enormous factors. Firstly, the characters suffer from being such clear archetypes. There's the son who just wants to follow in his father's footsteps and succeed where his father failed, the cocky sidekick (who also has daddy issues), then there's their hard as nails, yet hot as hell, superior officer who Dom (our protagonist) proclaims to hate but clearly has a huge thing for and, last but not least, there's the estranged father who just wants to make up for lost time. It's all so...obvious. Sure, part of using such generic characters is having the ability to then flip expectation (which writer Jonathan Hickman does brilliantly towards the end of the issue) but when it gets in the way of your initial engagement with said characters then it's a big problem. I find myself desperate to know what happens next but, perversely, I couldn't care less what happens to the characters themselves. The other serious flaw is Nicholas Pittara's pencils. His style is wonderfully idiosyncratic, echoing Frank Quitley yet without seeming like a cheap rip-off, and I have no doubt that, as his career progresses, he will become a masterful artist. However, as it stands, his work here is just too inconsistent. While the various ships and landscapes look gorgeous, Pittara seems to suffer with character likeness's a great deal- to the point that, with certain panels, you find yourself doing a double take just to make sure the character is who you think it is. If the likeness's were accurate and consistent then it would help facilitate the reader's engagement with the characters- thus removing the aforementioned problem of Hickman using such obvious archetypes. However, the two flaws combined make for a serious error in storytelling. That being said, it's nice to see Hickman, who has been playing around in the Marvel Universe for the last couple years (he's known as one of their chief "architects"), get back to creator owned projects. Despite my criticisms, I have no doubt that the next two issues will more than make up for it. Based on the ending of this issue, the conclusion looks to be jam-packed full of surprises and, hopefully, some strong character work as well.