I first heard about Huck back in July at San Diego Comic-Con. I didn’t have a release date, so I went to my favorite comic book shop (Brave New World in Valencia, if you are taking notes.) and asked the folks if they knew when it was coming out.
November was so long to wait that my feeble, old-man brain forgot. So, when I had a glimmer of memory, it was already a few weeks after the release day. Thankfully, BNW still had Issue #1 in stock, so I bought it, brought it home, and read it like a greedy kid on Christmas morning.
And, MAN OH MAN did it live up to the billing.
Not that I am surprised. Mark Millar turns everything he touches into gold. His work with a myriad of publishers – though most notably with Marvel, Icon, and Image – is legendary and includes a whole bunch of amazing stuff that has been adapted for film, like Fantastic Four, Captain America: Civil War, Kick Ass, Wanted, and, most recently, The Secret Service (Kingsman).
All of this is preface to saying what barely needs to be said . . . Millar has a great eye for characters and an even better sense of what works for his characters.
Huck is absolutely a character-driven book, with the backdrop of a quaint town and a mélange of caring and loving Midwestern folk. But, while described as “simple,” Huck is far from simple. He is a complicated mass of a man who only wants to do good and to help people . . . ”every day.”
In Issue #2 we begin to see the potential bad side of the gentle giant’s desire to be of help all of the time. He gets outed and begins helping strangers who thrust their missing people on him. And, as an agent of good, Huck can only feel obliged to help . . . regardless of the consequences. And, there will be consequences, whether they hit now or down the road.
Read the comic. It is a great read and tremendously complex in its simplicity. You will get lost in the main character and find yourself rooting for his every move. The artwork is also extremely sharp. Rafa Albuquerque does a great job of delivering the feel of the character and of the storyline through his art. Huck, himself, is exactly what you expect him to be . . . big, hulking, towering, and gentle as a spring breeze. All of this comes out in the art.
When you fall in love with this book and this character, rejoice, because Millar has already negotiated the film rights. Huck . . . soon to be in a theater near you.
