Static Shock #1

SPOILERS AHEAD

The Who: Virgil Hawkins is the teenage superhero Static. He uses his powers to be a hero while trying to have a normal life with his family, friends and school.

Why I chose this title: I LOVED the animated series, which was tons of fun, at times poignant and had such likable characters. Although it could have been better without real stars making cameos and it had a couple of other flaws like the rather obvious PSA gun episode. Still enjoyable. I did go back and forth whether or not to give this one a try. Because of his creators' death and uncertainty of his direction. Leaving his hometown and part of his supporting cast, plus not feeling the new costume. I love Scott McDaniels' artwork and his passion for promoting the book is getting me to give this a try.

What I expect from the book: To be fun like the show and explore more of Virgils' personal life.

Thoughts: This carried over well for someone that only saw the tv series. Although there are changes like Virgils' mother being alive. I was confused at one place when he's talking to his mother and sister. His mother tells him to go see his father and another woman is sitting in there. While she's apparently his sister as well she's not named, and I haven't see her mentioned anywhere else. The sibling interplay I love is back in a very familiar way as his sister does something helpful that pleases their mother but embarrasses Virgil.

Although the show had someone else act as the brains it doesn't surprise me to see Virgil is smart enough to have an after school job at S.T.A.R. Labs. He's always excelled at science and creativity when using his powers. This issue highlights some of those applications, I particularly liked when he described how he is able to focus enough to see differently with his powers. Even when he does well he still doesn't have everything down 100% as he loses the bad guy and the people of New York aren't grateful for him saving their lives since he shorted their cars out.

I think some of the Milestone characters show up but the only ones outside of the normal Static Shock characters I know is Mainframe, who acts as a mentor. He's part of the reason Virgil works at S.T.A.R. Labs as he wants him to keep a lookout. Sadly the headquarters and equipment he gives comes at a price since he spread false information about Virgil being a former felon to give him a cover for why their working together. I assume he means Virgil and not Static.

The book leaves on a proper "what the hell?" moment complete with a pun for the next issue.

Say What?: A call out to Hawkman by a bad guy. No one else is mentioned which makes me wonder why they were worried about him. Another weird note is that the same member says that New York was previously free of heroes and now their coming out of the woodwork. Where have all the heroes gone in this world? Are they spread out more? I know not all of them are in NY like Marvel but still.

Did you Notice?: The old Static costume makes an appearance. Virgils' I.D. card has his middle name that he's embarrassed of. It is the same one from the show, Ovid. Lady Flashpoint shows up in the backround on page 15 in the window behind the polka dot wearing sister that confused me.

Verdict: A nice read. It doesn't retell the Static origin and really doesn't get into the characters outside Static and Mainframe. A few things did confuse me during this but I'm not sure if they would confuse a total newcomer. It was decent but I'd have to read the whole arc before deciding if this is a keeper. Like I said I'm pretty ruthless with my pull list.