Generation Zero #1 Review: Off To A Great Start
By Matt Conner
Generation Zero’s first issue is a great start to this series, mixing the best parts of New Warriors and 21 Jump Street. We highly recommend it!
Generation Zero #1
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Francis Portela
Published by Valiant Entertainment
Generation Zero #1 doesn’t come out until Wednesday, August 24, so beware of spoilers!
Generation Zero first appeared in the Harbinger Wars miniseries, a group of superpowered kids. They popped up again to fight monsters in the Armor Hunters event. Readers haven’t seen much of them since. When Valiant announced this new ongoing series, we were excited about getting Fred Van Lente again. But we weren’t too sure we could remember who these kids were.
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It turns out we didn’t need to. Fred Van Lente has crafted a near-perfect introduction to a team book with a premise we haven’t seen in the Valiant publishing line yet. In his world, teenagers who have big problems can log on to a site and upload a description of what’s wrong. Bullying, homophobia, cutting, anything. And if Generation Zero picks you, they can go undercover at your school and make things better.
The first mission helps Keisha, a girl convinced her boyfriend’s death is the result of a conspiracy tied to the surprising tech boom her little Michigan town has enjoyed. Several of the kids get a page or two to showcase their creepy powers, but the bulk of this issue is about tone and concept. After all, the heroes themselves are a shadowy organization. The fact that the reader can’t quite remember them adds to their mystique. So it’s scary, it’s serious, and it’s respectful to teen issues without patting anyone on the head.
A winning creative team
Van Lente’s trademark political humor was such a powerful part of the must-read Archer & Armstrong series. Here, it plays a smaller role, but still jabs hard where it needs to. The visuals fit perfectly. Portela’s art is clean and classic, reminding us of Clayton Henry’s run on Archer & Armstrong – the conspiracy horror gets so much worse when the panels could be a great teen soap opera or the new Avengers book.
The Bottom Line: Whether or not you know these characters, Generation Zero is the team book to watch. Readers are going to love the tension of undercover superpowered teens.