Review: The Hypernaturals #7
Published by Boom! Studios
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by Tom Derenick and Andres Guinaldo
Coloured by Stephen Downer
The Plot
A man named John Byrd is experimenting with creating trip technology and goes through a trying process to do so. There are concerns by others, which includes his girlfriend Helaine. John plans a special surprise for Helaine, but everything goes wrong. This ultimately leads to his rebirth as Sublime. 92 years into the future and back into the present, we see the Hypernaturals team ready to assault Sublime, but are stopped by Thinkwell. Sublime tells them the true nature of the trip technology and how it relates to the Chernovski incident. Sublime then reveals to Thinkwell, Shoal, and Clone 21 who he believes the real enemy to be. Shoal is able to utilize his stranglets to locate Chernovski who is then attacked by “Sublime.” The team splits up and Bewilder, HalfShell, and Clone 45 travel to 28 Kosov (which is where the Centennial team originally disappeared from) in order to find Prismatica. They are then called into a dispute at the Repository where “Sublime’s” team is attacking in order to track down the Nephilim Fragment.
The Breakdown
Damn I didn’t catch on right away that we were being introduced to Sublime’s backstory and was it a good one. It avoided some of the typical clichés and it made him into a real person and not just a plot point. His backstory made absolute perfect sense with this book and it was excellently done. I also liked some of his little quips in this issue such as asking about their costumes. I call it a major win when I actually enjoy the villain in a series. His humour and relatable characterization doesn’t come at the expense of his badassery. Thinkwell is my favorite new character in 2012 and his contingency plan in this issue was awesome. The scope of this story is becoming deeper and more intense. Also, my suspicions on the Centennial Hypernaturals team’s disappearance in issue #0 were once again revisited. The explanation with Chernovski was a very satisfying explanation and I cannot wait to see Sublime take on “Sublime.” I like how the team is smart enough to listen to what his theory is while smart enough to not trust him and seek out Prismatica on their own. Shoal’s abilities are continuing to grow and they are very original in concept. The moment between Clone 45 and Bewilder was very good when he was trying to have an honest conversation about Magnetar (her missing boyfriend). Speaking of Clone 45, I liked how he was immediately ready to face the threat head on. The art was good in this issue and there were a few very nice panels by both artists. I have become a fan of the two artist system in this book to handle present and past events. Another damn fine issue.
BUT…
Sometimes the technical jargon does lose me occasionally. It’s not a big complaint on my part because I have stated before that it is a new universe that the writers created so they are trying to make it more authentic. However, I do plan on reading the issues consecutively soon and perhaps I’ll have a better grasp of some of it. At the same time, they did explain what a cryptomathmatic link was and it was a pretty cool idea. I hope that they return to 28 Kosov again quickly because the search there was abandoned too fast near the end of the issue. I’m just so curious to see what else they’ll find there at the scene of the crime. There wasn’t really anything in this issue that took away from making this issue good or any less enjoyable. If I tried to find things to dislike or complain about with this issue then I’d just be a Nicholas Nitpicker or something like that.
Buy It, Borrow It, Shelf Read It, or Ignore It?
Buy. It. This comic keeps getting bigger and bigger and better and better. Next issue we’re going to see some major action once again. Sublime’s backstory is the best that I’ve seen in a long time for a villain. Abnett and Lanning have done such a great job of rounding out all of the characters in this book. This was one of my favorite books in 2012 and I cannot see that changing in 2013. The Hypernaturals is a great title that I read and then re-read every month.
