Static: Season One #3
DC Comics/Milestone 2021
Written by Vita Ayala
Illustrated by Nikolas Draper-Ivey & Crisscross
Coloured by Nikolas Draper-Ivey & Wil Quintana
Lettered by Andworld Design
The government believes the super-powered teenage “Bang Babies” of Dakota are out of control…and they’re too dangerous to be allowed on the streets! When his classmates start disappearing, Virgil Hawkins wants to do the right thing and expose what’s going on…but is there any way to do so without Static getting snatched up himself?
I don’t know why I’m continually so surprised by how much I am enjoying this series. Vita is an amazing writer so it really shouldn’t surprise me so much what they can do. I’ve been enjoying Vita’s work for a while now and it’s so incredibly good with a strong sense of who the characters are and what they feel that it's like seeing an old friend on the page sharing what’s happening in their life right now. Virgil is no different and while I can only relate on a rudimentary level, well I may not be a person of colour but I am a gay jewish man so, but it is enough that I can empathise with aspects of his struggle and certainly with the acceptance of his family and particularly his father.
I am absolutely loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does such a wonderful job in bringing the characters to life. The pacing we see is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we’re left frustrated, angry and completely and fully engaged in this story.
How we see this being structured and how the layers continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificently rendered. What I love about the layers within this story is how they relate to one another in the bigger picture sense as well as not all avenues will be explored but they all add some sensational depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.
The interiors here are pretty gosh darn amazing. There are two teams doing the work but it really feels like there’s a seamless transition and that one team worked on this. The linework is clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality to the detail work we see throughout the book is absolutely extraordinary. One of the more impressive pages to me is seeing the school from the outside, why because we see backgrounds of the hallway, the classroom etc and I wish more panels utilised backgrounds more because of the effect they are able to have on the reader. The composition within the panels brings us great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a set of remarkably talented eyes for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a remarkable eye for how colour works, how it can be applied and how to maximise its effects.
This is a strong and powerful book that takes a hard look at what the government would do to folks with powers that they do not control. It is a scary time to have this happen to these kids in the first place but when you add a paranoid and authoritarian government into the mix well things are only going to get more volatile. With some of today’s strongest writing and intensely dramatic characterisation wrapped around these stunning interiors and it’s a recipe for success.
About the Creator
Steven Leitman
Just me talking about the comics I enjoy reading, ones that you might not know exist and spotlighting the indie creators that excite me.
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