Rapture #1 review: Going through Hell to save Heaven
By Matt Conner
Rapture begins as the young Geomancer puts together a team in Valiant’s Hell to stop the destruction of Heaven. Don’t miss this one!
Rapture #1 (of 4)
Story by Matt Kindt
Art by Cafu
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Published by Valiant Entertainment
Rapture #1 Cover by Mico Suayan
Last year, Matt Kindt sent Valiant’s favorite scoundrel, Ninjak, to the Deadside, the company’s version of Hell. He meant to rescue a team lost by loose cannon sorceress Punk Mambo. But he ended up completing a side quest, too: the rescue of popular hero Shadowman, now enslaved as the horrifying Magpie.
This year, we’re all going back. And it’s going to be war.
This first issue follows the young new Geomancer and her cartoon sidekick through the Deadside. They want to clarify a Doomsday prophecy, but they end up learning about an ancient magician connected to the Tower of Babel. And if he succeeds in his latest wicked plot, the Liveside (Valiant’s Heaven) is doomed. Luckily, the Geomancer knows a few people who know their way around the Deadside…
This is an introductory issue, saddled with the unfortunate need to collect the team for the rest of the miniseries, but Kindt knows what he’s doing with it. Most of the book bounces the little Geomancer on a charming romp through a level of that Zelda game that doesn’t exist yet. The innocence and adventure pull the reader in, and they get enough introduction not to need to track down Ninjak’s third collection.
Next: Check out Valiant's first announcement of the first issue!
Cafu’s wonderful detail on grotesque Deadside landscapes suggests an enjoyable issue of material set in any of these strange worlds. Cute sidekicks and giant demons get equal love here. Andrew Dalhouse’s colors also keep things weird without going too grim – his use of purple, for example, goes a long way toward setting an unsettling tone without blocking the big picture.
Kindt already wrote Shadowman’s best story since the Valiant relaunch. But this miniseries has the potential to bring this fallen hero back to glory. Heaven help him.