Kirkman has another great book on his hands. It seems everything he touches lately turns into pure gold and this just adds another to the list. It's an idea we have kind of seen before in some sci-fi shows and stories but it really works with the way it's told and the art is pretty great. Mark Silvestri has a great cover that will grab people's attention. Kirkman has a good story that is elevated with Brian Stelfreeze's art. Some of the panels in the beginning are brilliantly done and the action sequences are superb. Image just keeps rolling out great book after great book and is cementing a place with some of their books on my best of list. This book is definitely one to pick up and be on the lookout for. Kirkman seems to be making the jump from print to TV screen with a lot of his books, and I'd love to see this one do that as well. Read Full Review

What if YOU could take over the consciousness of someone to save the world? Welcome to HARDCORE #1, where Agent Drake will be someone else to save himself. Alessandro Vitti's art uses action to jump off the page. Read Full Review

Hardcore is a really engaging sci-fi, action story. Even though the book tends toward the predictable, the twist at the end is excellent, and really drives the desire to read the next issue. This is a series that definitely makes me want to finish the story, but I currently dont see how it will live on past the first storyline. I hope the initial arc doesnt get drawn out too much, but overall, an excellent first issue. Recommended. Read Full Review

Pilot Season: Hardcore is a fantastic issue, and one I'd like to see continue. It has a great concept and storyline, and I loved the idea of having an assassin's mind to into the body of someone else. Brian Stelfreeze's art is great here, and this book was filled with a lot of fun and fast paced action sequences. Read Full Review

You'll love reading it. And most probably you'll like the ending more than I did. And I so hope it doesn't devolve into what I think it's going to devolve into. Read Full Review

Fans of the Paul Verhoeven classics Robocop and Total Recall will feel right at home here. Those films are obvious touchstones, from the book's look to the jaundiced and sly tone. Like those films, the sci-fi conceit of Hardcore functions as a vehicle for a bit of social criticism, but at this point the book seems more interested in spinning a yarn than offering a critique. The conceit revolves around an espionage invention called a "hardcore," a microchip that can be fired into a person's brain stem that renders them controllable by a government assassination squad for 72 hours. There are some pretty obvious parallels here to some of the more problematic aspects of GWOT like warrantless seizures and botched drone attacks, but those are ideas more present in the concept than the actual unfolding of the narrative. If Hardcore ends up exploring them more explicitly with the verve and humor that this first issue is packed with, it will be a very special series. Read Full Review

Sometimes a book is so good writing or art-wise that the other can be a complete failure and the comic will still be worth purchasing. Usually, though, one factor is almost good enough, but needs the other to be at a certain, albeit lesser, level before a potential consumer can justify buying the comic. Unfortunately, while Kirkman inches past the cut with this issue, Stelfreeze does not, making this book just barely miss the buy mark. Still, it is just close enough to that mark that it is definitely a book worth flipping through in the shop and seeing if you do not mind the art so much. Read Full Review

With Kirkman's popularity growing every day, it only makes sense that Top Cow would want to put out this unreleased issue. Hordes of Kirkmaniacs (and "Pilot Season" completists, I guess) will probably buy it. Mission accomplished. But as a standalone piece of work, this one was probably better left on the shelf. Read Full Review

In the end, be it any form of entertainment, high concepts and great story telling are two different things. The sad part is Hardcore only cares about one of these things. Read Full Review

The art is boring. Brian Stelfreeze basically regurgitates the mix of animation and computer graphics. The type of easy work that Image and other companies use to get a book off the ground. For me, Hardcore #1 is a boring disappointment, but it might get better. I won’t know because I have no interest in reading it, but it might evolve into something better than the forgotten Saturday afternoon drive-in flick it is now. Read Full Review