Archie Comics has been slowly bringing back the classic Red Circle characters, but none have had such a high-profile team of Dean Haspiel and Mark Waid. Seeing those two, especially Waid, immediately caught my attention and I’ve been anticipating the first issue of this new series.

The team of Haspiel and Waid in this debut issue bring the legendary, pulp-style hero The Fox to life in “Freak Magnet, Part One: The True Face of MyFace”! When photojournalist Paul Patton, Jr. donned a super hero costume, he thought it would be a quick way to make some news—now the strange and unusual just can’t help but be drawn to the freak-magnetism of the fabulous fighting FOX! While working on a puff-piece at the Red Circle Gazette, an evil truth about social media mogul Lucy Fur is discovered, bringing Paul face-to-face with a criminal kingpin! But, that’s not all, this action packed first also has a second story, “A Picture Lasts Forever” has the Fox dealing with a building that’s a bit more than it seems.

As much as I anticipated the first issue, I also wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I guess I was expecting something more like Waid’s Daredevil and you get a sense of that, with a bit more of a family friendly spin, and that’s not a bad thing at all.

The first issue is a blend when it comes to style, it’s a bit Haspiel and Waid, mixed with that family friendly style we expect from Archie. This isn’t a gritty action series, it’s much safer in content, harkening back to fun super hero comics of times past when everything wasn’t gritty and dirty, and that’s something that’s needed and missing from today’s comic market.

A team mixes up the art and it’s all solid, matching the writing. There’s lots of fun action sequences for them to match their style to the story. It’s a great combination and works really well.

Overall, there’s not much that’s groundbreaking here when it comes to story or art, but there is a lot of good, clean fun. And in today’s comic market, that is actually groundbreaking.

Story: Dean Haspiel, Mark Waid Art: Dean Haspiel, Allen Passalaqua, John Workman
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Archie Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review