Salvo. Pike. Katari. Shakti. Ridge. Maraud. Chalice. They’ve fought every day of their existence and won a terrible victory. Now they’re stranded on Earth, free agents for the first time. But when relics from their long war appear, threatening their chance at better lives, their greatest battle begins. They’ve fought for a million planets. Can they fight to save their own souls? Free Agents #1 is an interesting concept of a comic but its execution falls short of its pitch.

Free Agents #1 packs a lot into the first issue. Not only does it introduce, with a good amount of detail, a large cast, but it also gives their tragic history and kicks things off with some action. Written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, Free Agents #1 has potential. Its concept of soldiers finding refuge on Earth and trying to move on from their traumatic experience is a story well worth telling. But, this debut issue doesn’t dive into their struggle enough to get that across. The struggle feels almost non-existent.

The comic kicks off with the team battling a remnant from the war they thought they left behind. It teases their being a part of the Image superhero universe, with a name drop of Cyber Force, and has them going back to their “civilian” lives they’re trying to forge. From there it’s debriefs and letting readers know what happened to get to this point in a debut issue that feels a little choppy. I remember reading Image superhero comics in the 90s during the launch, and Free Agents feels a lot like that, the concept is better than the execution with a story that feels like it’s missing details or something to get the point across. Here, reader aren’t given a sense of these individuals really struggling with their past. They treat the battle we witness like it’s part of their war with debriefs instead of really focusing on wanting to get away from it all. They all question “why” far too much instead of some anger about wanting their previous life to go away. We’re told they were all forced to fight but their actions never really indicate they don’t want to fight. They say it but never really act on it.

And the art doesn’t help a ton. Stephen Mooney is talented and I read the comic in a non-ideal digital form but there’s some sequences where things are completely clear as to what’s going on and there’s a rough aspect to it all. With color by Triona Tree Farrell and lettering by Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith, the comic’s visuals, like the story, feels a little rough at times. There’s odd movement in some of the action sequences and the mix of civilian and soldier doesn’t always come across well. The disguises feel like they’re encroached by their soldier uniforms at times or there’s aspects to something they do (like the healing scene) that’s not always clear. The comic attempts to “show” at times instead of “tell” and the show doesn’t make the tell clear. Like the story itself, there’s a lot of potential.

Free Agents #1 is an interesting concept and there’s a lot to it. Hopefully, like some of those 90s Image superhero comics, the story will clear up with more issues and right its path. But, as far as being a debut issue, it doesn’t live up to the quality you’d expect with the high caliber talent on it. It’s a better idea than execution as the execution doesn’t get the idea across enough. Instead of being soldiers trying to escape to a new life, it comes off as refugee soldiers being dragged back into the war they thought was over. They’re two concepts that are close, but different. This may be one where the first arc is read as a whole instead of individual issues.

Story: Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza Art: Stephen Mooney
Color: Triona Tree Farrell Letterer: Richard Starkings, Tyler Smith
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

---

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle