SOLDIER ZERO #1 – Published by BOOM! STUDIOS, Shipping October 20th
Created by STAN LEE, Written by PAUL CORNELL, Art by JAVIER PINA, Colors by ALFRED ROCKEFELLER, Letters by ED DUKESHIRE, Covers by TREVOR HAIRSINE, DAVE JOHNSON, PHIL NOTO & KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY, Edited by BRYCE CARLSON, Character Design by DAVE JOHNSON
[nggallery id=670] Starting in 1961, Stan Lee revolutionized comic book super-heroes. He wrote his heroes with real-to-life secret identities with real-world problems and concerns. These weren’t just all-powerful gods that watched over the human race, but guys and gals with relationship issues, day jobs, emotional baggage and the same everyday highs and lows that we go through. In short, Stan Lee and his collaborators made it easy to image that we could be those heroes. Now, in partnership with BOOM! Studios, Stan Lee is at it again with the first of three new heroes, Soldier Zero!
Soldier Zero #1 tells the story of a wheelchair-bound astronomy lecturer and war veteran Stewart Trautmann, who through a freak accident finds himself bonded with an alien weapon of war. While Stan Lee created the character, all credit for the effective first issue script goes to writer Paul Cornell. Cornell has been a favorite of mine since his Doctor Who novel The Shadows of Avalon and I’ve been looking forward to seeing what he can do starting a brand new character from scratch. He does not disappoint. In the finest Stan Lee tradition, he does a great job of juxtaposing the space battle plight on Soldier Zero with the everyday troubles of a handicapped Trautmann before bringing the two worlds explosively together.
Adding to the spectacular storytelling is Javier Pina’s art. Pina does a marvelous job with not only the Dave Johnson designed Soldier Zero suit battling spaceships, but also with the Earth-bound Trautmann and friends. He sets each scene wonderfully and has a great style that directs you where you need to be to follow the story. His characters are distinctive so you easily know who is who and his linework is refreshingly clean and realistic. Pina’s art is the perfect companion to Cornell’s script and both are more than capable of handling this momentous launch and doing justice to a Stan Lee creation. Bring on issue two!
Soldier Zero #1 arrives in store on October 20th!
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