Adamant #1 is the beginning of what promises to be a pretty cool and exciting, new comic. It combines two of my favorite things—superheroes and time travel—and already, it doesn’t disappoint.
We begin with supervillain Dr. Alpha, a mad scientist who has taken over a large hadron collider and plans to use it as leverage to conquer the world. First, however, he has to eliminate his archnemesis, Adamant: a superhero named such because he’s pretty much indestructible.
After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at subduing our hero, Dr. Alpha pulls one final trick out of his sleeve: a bomb with so much destructive energy as to overwhelm even Adamant. To save the rest of the lab, Adamant absorbs the energy and disintegrates into thin air. It’s over! The indestructible superhero is dead, and Dr. Alpha is victorious!
Only, of course, it’s not that simple. Rather than being disintegrated, Adamant has, in fact, been flung into the future—a strange, dystopic future, full of robot drones and frogmen. The comic uses an interesting device to depict this time jump. The first few pages, before the jump, are drawn by Ian Waryanto, using a very traditional superhero comic style. Then, suddenly, the art switches to that of D.C. Stuelpner. You can pinpoint the exact moment of the change, as not only does the entire landscape change to a bizarre and vivid future landscape, but even Adamant’s facial features change a bit. The difference between the two worlds is striking and very effective.
The new, future world that Adamant has found himself in is jarring to say the least. Not only does the art style change, but the writing style undergoes a major shift as well—though there’s only one writer throughout, Mike Exner III. Still, Mr. Exner has gone out of his way to throw us headfirst into this strange, new situation, and it takes some getting used to.
The possibilities of this bizarre future world are mind-boggling, and the adventure that awaits our time-displaced hero has the potential to be something amazing. I look forward to seeing where it goes from here. If you’re a fan of superheroes, and/or time travel, you should definitely check out Adamant #1.
