Review by Frank Plowright
The covid pandemic was a global tragedy, but it made J. Michael Straczynski seem a prophet beyond compare as the first issue of The Resistance was released in March 2020. Millions die in his fictional pandemic, but a small percentage of those who contract a virus and survive do so with super powers. The entirety of the core series is the longest section of this compilation, which is otherwise bulked up with samplers of the series that spun from it.
That core series is magnificently realised, and as Straczynski’s extrapolation of a global crisis results in more authoritarian governments we can be thankful it didn’t come to pass directly. The political diaspora is integral and the people count, whether or not they have super powers. In fact one of the most pivotal characters eventually proves to be a politician. Mike Deodato’s art is excellent throughout, detailed, personality-defining and with an innate sense for storytelling, but he was going through a phase of overlaying the panel borders rather than drawing within them, which makes more difference than you’d think.
‘Reborns’ is by Straczynski and C. P. Smith, and starts rather trivially with a tormented infected man believing himself a monster, before dying and being reborn as exactly that. It turns out to be the first of five stories, all of which deal with someone acquiring a super power. These are slim with different moods, but none of them add greatly to the overall picture. It’s as if Straczynski had a few ideas about some super powers, but not enough to incorporate them into the main narrative. The best of them is the last, told as if an oral history morality tale passed down the ages. This collection is the only place you’ll find these stories other than the original comic release. Could they really not have been included in either the first Resistance paperback or the subsequent Uprising, the first chapter of which is included here, also drawn by Smith.
It and the first chapter of Moths, both written by Straczynski, read better as standalone chapters than the remainder. A form of super powers that use up a life in six months is explored via Emily Kai, able to sense the truth in others via their emotions and transfer what she’s feeling to an audience. It’s a subtle power well explored with impressive photorealistic art from Mike Choi.
Knighted by Gregg Hurtwitz and Mark Texeira also stands alone as an origin, but the tone is cynical and the art patchy, neither of which greatly improves. The Joneses by Michael Moreci and Alessandro Vitti is a better story, but one that builds, leaving the opening chapter as a teaser. Kaare Andrews provides fantastic art for new teenage superhero E-Ratic on a solid opening chapter with the good gimmick of his powers only being available for ten minutes a day, but the first tale never quite pulls together overall. Also including the start of E-Ratic2: Recharged with its multiple spoilers is a strange choice, but it’s better than the first and Andrews again supplies great art.
Under other circumstances paying for half a book of what’s in effect promotional chapters might rankle, but The Origins retails for not much more than the first Resistance paperback, so that’s not a justifiable comment. By and large, though, the extra material doesn’t match the quality of the core series.
