Out on a limb.
When the thing that defines you is stripped away, what else remains? That’s the question Daniel Warren Johnson looks to answer in his latest debut from Image Comics. Part revenge epic, part family drama, this first issue is endlessly inventive and gleefully bloody, though more is needed from the concept to prove it has legs.
Like any good story about loss, Johnson at first allows readers to appreciate what came before. Of course, as soon as we’re introduced to the artistic talents of lead Thea, the character loses both her mother and her drawing hand in a senseless attack from the neighboring Paznina. That loss sets the tone of the rest of the read, Johnson doing a nice job of detailing how the attack shapes each member of her remaining family. Thea’s father, Jerome, is driven by his grief, and his role as the Abba of the Roto Clan puts him in prime position to do something about it. Her brother, Rollo, is in a tougher spot, bound by both the expectations of his lineage and the constraints of his own conscience. With the Roto Clan looking to get their revenge on those who so irrevocably changed their fates, Thea, Rollo and Jerome are all stretched in uniquely complicated, and often violent, ways.
While the war-torn setup is premise enough, it’s how Johnson fields the different viewpoints that really makes this first chapter so compelling. The battle between the Roto and the Paznini gives the book its visual hook, but for the most part Johnson uses the bursts of violence as a way of further exploring the damaged layers of his leads. From Jerome’s almost blind obsession to Rollo’s conflicted sense of empathy, Johnson gets a lot of early development out of the book’s small page count. Of course, Thea is the book’s main draw, and her journey is one immediately sympathetic, and at times relatable. A scene at issue’s end puts her face to face with the man who took her hand, presenting her with a choice not easily answered. And yet, in Johnson’s eyes there is no choice—it was taken from Thea along with her extremity.
Its powerful stuff, which makes the book’s closer all the more challenging. For a single issue, Johnson does a surprisingly good job of bringing the book’s events full circle, so much so that it actually diminishes the sense of momentum going forward. There’s still the promise of future battles down the line—Jerome makes it quite clear that he has plenty of names yet to cross off his list—but the book’s forward progress is as of yet undefined. There are options wherever he decides, but the exceptional realization of his characters does make the seemingly lessened focus of the narrative more noticeable. It’s there that the book’s art comes into play. This is a wonderfully inventive book filled with plenty of unique imagery, Johnson’s world fully realized from the opening page. His art has an excellent sense of movement to it, the artist often using dramatic angles and sweeping panel layouts to further enhance its frenetic action. His design work is also top notch, his world a blend of antiquated structures and sleek technology. Combine that with some great character design, further enlivened by Mike Spicer’s splatter happy color palette, and this is one pretty read.
As far as debuts go, Extremity #1 checks a lot of early boxes. Its premise is exciting, its characters interesting, and its visuals superb. The sense of resolution at issue’s end does call into question the overall longevity of this particular tale, but as far as pure initial engagement, this title hits the mark.
The Verdict
Extremity #1 is a strong debut, driven by Daniel Warren Johnson’s excellent characterization and electric art. Johnson takes a pretty straight forward concept and imbues it with new and exciting layers, making for a character first ensemble that packs plenty of visual punch. The attention to character does leave certain aspects of the narrative feeling a bit undefined as of yet, but overall this book is a bloody ball.
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