Xombi #1
writer: John Rozum
artist: Fraser Irving
And so the Milestone Universe comes back to DC in earnest. After a brief cross-over with the Justice League of America and appearances in Brave and the Bold, Milestone finally gets represented by Xombi.
It's a good choice. Though the house ads say this is set in the DC Universe, nothing about this issue betrays that fact. Instead, the only continuity It's beholden to is its own run a decade or so ago. But don't let that scare you; writer John Rozum gives you everything you need to know.
David Kim has been infected with nanotechnology that renders him effectively immortal. As a result of this change, he has lost his best friend, whose genetic material went into saving him. It's also more than just an incredible healing factor; Kim seems to be able to rewrite matter around him.
As anyone might be in this situation, Kim reluctantly shoulders the burden of his extra abilities. He'd really rather just live his life, no matter how insanely long it might turn out to be. But apparently, he's a magnet for weirdness, and there are few artists as appropriate to delineate that than Fraser Irving.
Even Irving's calmest characters in repose look vaguely disturbed. It's a style that helps make everything in Rozum's story seem uneasy, even in quiet moments of relative normalcy.
Not that there are many. Something is wrong with the world, and it will take Kim to a special prison where those touched by the unnatural are shrunken down and kept in lives of quiet, tiny desperation. He's not alone in his battle; working with a team of Catholic-themed heroes, the Xombi may be our last hope.
Somehow, I missed the first round of Xombi and after reading this really regret it. Rozum writes a good lunatic roller coaster ride, and I've always been a sucker for that "weirdness magnet" concept first posited by Blue Devil, back when that was a fun concept.
Rozum uses that idea well. It's almost too weird for the regular DC Universe, and that's okay. With all the strange events and crossovers building up there, it's nice to have a book that might claim to fit, but is still quite content in its own little corner.
That's what makes both these revivals this week work so well. They only seem like part of larger universes because the hype says they are – both creative teams have one concern first and foremost: telling you the best story they can, and that's what makes these books so good.
