The “One Man War on Terror” will get the job done! That’s right – James Bourne, A.K.A. Solo, is on his own, right where he belongs! Deadly alien weapons are making their way into the hands of ordinary thugs – and Solo is going undercover to locate the source. Things are heating up, and Solo might just wish he had some backup!

I vaguely remember Solo from when he debuted in the mid-80’s and his running with the Six Pack for some adventures. Generally, I remember the character being a Marvel take on the steroid he-man mercenary that dominated films of that time, though it has been 30 years. And its been 30 years to the month since this character first debuted and now he may, or may not, finally break out in his own solo debut… errr… Solo #1.

Co-written by Gerry Duggan and Geoffrey Thorne, Solo is an interesting comic that’s somewhat entertaining but has me trying to figure out exactly what it’s trying to be. Duggan has recently been writing Deadpool and the style he shows off there is somewhat seen here with humor peppered throughout the over the top action. Together with Thorne there’s a vibe about this issue that feels like the beginning of a film where the leader of the organization says “get me xyz.” In this case that organization is S.H.I.E.L.D. and the leader is Dum Dum.

The comic shares a lot with those action films. The character of Solo is fairly thin in this issue mainly defined by his quick responses and ability to get the job done. It has some humor, it has action, it has some interaction with some other characters, but I didn’t really get a sense of who this character is and why I should be care about him. What’s the hook to keep me coming back? What makes Solo the character interesting? The humor towards the beginning is good, but there’s not enough of it. The action isn’t quite paced to the level that it’s the hook either. This feels like the first five minutes before the title sequence of an action film.

The art by Paco Diaz might be that? Along with colors from Israel Silva, the art is solid and reminds me of something we might see in a Marvel animated series. There’s some nice page layouts where Solo breaks the panels that looks great and the flow of each page is really good. Diaz seems to enjoy playing with perspective a bit, for example the fourth page where Solo is introduced and it’s stylistic, so slighly wonky, but interesting none the less.

Solo #1 isn’t bad, it just feels like a thin action comic that in this first issue is missing that hook to make it stand out as something original or interesting that’d get it to rise from the pack. The character and comic feels like it’s a throwback to 90s Marvel, and I’m still debating if that’s a good thing to be reminded of.

Story: Gerry Duggan and Geoffrey Thorne Art: Paco Diaz Color: Israel Silva
Story: 7 Art: 7.4 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review