Skyman is a spinoff of Dark Horse’s Captain Midnight (and if you haven’t been reading that book, shame on you) and deals with the fallout from Skyman’s recent battle against the good Captain. The newest Skyman was a psycho racist that tried to blow up a building to bring down one of Captain Midnight’s enemies. Skyman #1 opens with the disgraced Skyman taking his frustrations out on an African-American bartender during a drunken bender, terrifying the elderly man; Skyman is filmed screaming racial invective at the elderly man while committing grave bodily harm on the helpless victim. The U.S. government steps in and creates a new Skyman to save face from their initial casting of a violent racist in the role. The new Skyman chosen to replace the publicly shamed sociopath is US Air Force Captain Eric Reid, a black man who lost the use of his legs when his plane went down. It is clear Fialkov has a feel for Reid as the readers get a sense of the Captain’s pride and disgust at not having use of his body. Reid has a loving wife and bravely endures rehab to repair his ruined vertebrae, but Fialkov makes it clear that a quiet life isn’t what Reid wants. The call to adventure comes as the U.S. government kidnaps Reid and cures his broken body so he can become the new Skyman. The pacing gets a little wonky here. It probably would have been better to have Reid volunteer for his new role as his kidnapping and speedy transformation into Skyman gives the reader a case of plot whiplash. Fialkov stretches the bounds of believability that Reid was so trusting of his captors particularly when one of his handlers is borderline racist. While the affirmative action parallels set the stage for some interesting conflicts, it all feels rather clumsy. Reid is an interesting character with great potential and Fialkov sets him up as the likable everyman thrust into a fantastic situation, but the pacing issues and sledgehammer politics reduce the book’s impact. Manuel Garcia’s art is clean and crisp and nicely tells a story that sometimes barrels along at unwise speeds. But Garcia does a great job making sure the reader doesn’t get lost while expressing the right emotions through his characters. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
