Mystery Men #1

Marvel Comics approached writer David Liss about creating a pulp era background for their universe.  Liss set the story in the 1930s.  Instead of the usual Marvel heroes such as Spider-Man, the X-Men, etc. they wanted a new generation of pulp heroes to populate this era.  Liss could not pass up the chance to create a pulp universe with the Marvel sensibilities.


Among the new "mystery men" are The Operative and The Revenant.  The Operative is framed for the murder of his girlfriend and has to go on the run from the police as he tries to solve the crime.  He is a very down to earth type masked detective.  When things look hopeless, fog surrounds his enemies and The Revenant comes out of the mists.  Who is he and what is he after?  Like the classic Saturday afternoon serials, you will have to read the next issue to find out.


Liss did a solid job of setting up this world.  The art of Patrick Zircher helps bring it to life.  Zircher is an artist who tells the story with his art.  Many of today's artists are more worried about doing splash pages instead of using the graphic storytelling tools that are available.  Zircher does  a great job of leading the reader through the story.  And his use of shadows fit the story perfectly.


I will definitely be reading the rest of this mini-series.