Mann’s World #1 is an interesting concept of a comic. It dances around its potential, never quite dipping into its underlying themes and concepts. But, those themes and concepts and present and there. The story revolves around a group of friends who head to a vacation planet. There, they leave their resort only to piss of the local residents who decide to get their revenge.

Victor Gischler sets up an interesting world and concept. Mann’s World #1 dips its toes into privilege and the exploitation of indigenous individuals though it never quite commits to making that front and center. It’s what the four main characters represent. It’s never outright stated but these are four fairly well-to-do characters. One is a professional fighter who’s well known. One is a burger restaurant owner who owns hundreds of locations. The one grounded character is a recently divorced character who is clearly the one we the reader are supposed to like. He’s the voice of reason generally going along with the more alpha members of the group, though with some trepidation.

Gischler has an opportunity with the series to really explore wealth and exploitation. The four individuals are rude and harass the female staff. They pick fights with the local people who live in the area. They also treat people’s everyday lives like it’s some tourist stop there for their enjoyment. There’s something there that’s very worth exploring. But, Gischler takes the comic in a familiar direction by its end.

The art by Niko Walter is interesting. The characters all have personality and you can tell who they are by their looks. The world traveled to feels like a vacation paradise. But, the local town visited doesn’t quite have enough personality. There’s definitely a clear line between the haves and have-nots but at the same time there’s something missing there and the comic might have been stronger really defining and drawing a line between the two worlds.

Mann’s World #1 is a good start that has me want to read more. There’s a lot of potential and I want to see where it all goes. Hopefully, the comic doesn’t just devolve into a story we’ve seen so many times before. There’s a lot of space to really discuss the ideas and concepts set up in the debut and I’m hoping the comic embraces its worthy discussion instead of just leaning into the action.

Story: Victor Gischler Art: Niko Walter
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

AWA Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology – Zeus Comics