Review by Frank Plowright

After a relationship break-up Albert quit college for a semester. He’s a really promising bio-physicist despite not greatly enjoying the subject, but still, his classmates are glad to see him back, so glad they throw a party, and they have a secret they want to share. We’ve already seen that in action over the opening sequence as one of them, Amadeus, has robbed a bank using super powers.

Brian Michael Bendis’ theme is how the world as we know it would react if super powers were suddenly a possibility. It’s a killer opening concept, but extended by Bendis as if he’s writing a TV drama over several episodes on a limited budget. Until roughly two-thirds of the way through every scene is dragged out longer than required as ramifications are explored, fine tuning is required, and the authorities become involved, but when the major action moment hits it’s every bit as shocking as intended.

That’s down to the discipline of Mark Bagley. Back of the book process material shows how he transfers script to art, and there’s an absolute and under-rated clarity to what he does. There’s superhuman action, but Brilliant depends on the people, and Bagley designs a distinctive cast to be easily distinguished in all circumstances, and while that’s his strongpoint, he knows how to lay out and extend a majorly cinematic moment when it comes. One small problem is that after well over a decade of Bagley telling his stories across spreads, one might have thought there would no longer be any kind of problem with art and in one case dialogue disappearing into the binding, yet there is.

It is really the only one, though, as what starts out with the focus on a bunch of really smart students ends with the FBI debating about how they’re going to deal with a situation that’s totally beyond their previous experience. Bendis has spent years refining an ability for naturalistic dialogue, and that sparkles here, but it’s hoped the continuation will have the pace of the final third rather than the remainder.

Unfortunately, though, there has been no continuation, and the 2022 paperback reissue is just as the series stopped eight years earlier. It seems Bendis has no intention of continuing Brilliant, and what there is really doesn’t stack up well against his better work, so this is best left on the shelves. Ultimate Spider-Man by Bendis and Bagley is great. Try that instead.