Project 72 #1

Posted: Wednesday, September 5, 2001
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Project 72 #1 Writer(s): Jason Wright
Artist(s): JP Dupras, Mike McDonnell & Kris Justice
Publishers: self Published
From: USA
Price: $2:50 (US)

The Justice Foundation, they were a great team of Superheroes, but they suffered a tragic defeat which spelt the end of the team. Queen City, their base of operations changes after they disband. It's a dangerous place, with street crime on the increase and lots of greedy men making money from running the gangs.

One survivor of the team is still at work, stalking the criminals and doing what he can to get a few of the criminals to see the error of their ways, and nothing does this better than a good beating. Rook is haunted by memories of the good times and tragedies he's survived, and when an old college comes to him with a plan to put the city back on track he's not sure what he should do.

This comic is in the best traditions of superhero melodrama with fight scenes, secret bases, creepy henchmen and a far amount of exposition. The plot skips time periods and locations quite a lot, but a second reading clarified things for me. Jason does a fair job of piecing the story together and introducing the characters, but as with this sort of thing there are a few mysteries left to make the reader want to follow up with the next issue.

The art team know the drill, presenting the story in an energetic style. JP Dupras' work on the flashbacks has a nice flowing and simple look to it, while Mike McDonnell & Kris Justice's work on the "present day" scenes are more detailed and help convey the current grim mood of Queen City. This said, I found some of their pages a bit busy and the line work too thick in places.

Apart from a few bits of course language there's not here that you won't have already have seen in your time reading mainstream superhero titles, but I'm sure you'll have paid more to read worse.

In a Word: Strong.



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