THE MADNESS #1 is a hard-hitting, dramatic, super-smart story of revenge in a world filled with superheroes. Straczynski lays out a pitch-perfect revenge story, dripping with drama and character motivation for one of the best new character debuts in some time. Read Full Review

THE MADNESS #1
AWA Studios

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: ACO
Inker: David Lorenzo
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Sal Cipriano

From the mind that brought us the Resistance Universe and Telepaths comes a brand new hit series….THE MADNESS...

In THE MADNESS, Sarah Ross has been using her power as a thief, stealing from the rich and…well, keeping it. Until the day she stole from the wrong person, a highly placed official who pressures the government to assassinate her. The plot, aided by so-called “good” superheroes sponsored by the government, misses her but wipes out her family. Driven mad by grief, and laser-focused on revenge for the murder of her family, Sarah and a hidden side of her personality – an imaginary friend who may be more real than she believes – goes after these superpowered operatives determined to take her revenge, at any cost.

Thoughts…What a great first issue, this really sets the series up well. There is a lot of action throughout as well as some big emotional hits. We meet all the players although we don’t get a lot of information on any of the super powered people here I am sure we will learn a lot more as the series goes on. It sets the tone of the story well, showing the corruption and complacency of having power. This is highlighted in the pages where the superheroes are approached, this section of the issue in particular is done really well. We know from the solicitation what we have coming up throughout the series and at the end of the issue we get a glimpse of Sarah's hidden side but we are left wanting more as the issue comes to a close.

The issue, as you would expect, is written well and has great pacing, we get all the info we need to get a full picture of the events and the motivations of not only our main character but the supporting cast as well. The heroes are suitably sinister or easily swayed to do the wrong thing here and it will be interesting to see them fleshed out a bit more once the story gets going. Also without going into too much detail I like that our main character though superpowered has limitations.

Artwise it is crisp, clear and bright, definitely a “superhero” look to the overall style of the book. Massive explosions and big colourful pages all lend themselves to the theme and give it a look one would expect of the genre. With Sal Cipriano's lettering presenting the story to us in his usual style everything is easy to follow and has the right impact on the eye as you read through the issue.

I really liked this first issue, now the set up is all complete it will leave you wanting more, I am looking forward to seeing what this series gives us going forward, this is an easy 8 out of 10, get your orders in ASAP, fans of what Straczynski has done before with AWA will find this right up their street for sure.
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