Skyman #1 is a new series written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and published by Dark Horse about the military’s Skyman Program following the fallout from the events that took place in NYC. The Skyman Program is a military initiative whose purpose was originally to produce a superhero to take the place of Captain Midnight. However Skyman blew up a building in NYC in a reckless act and then fought Captain Midnight before finally being defeated. In the wake of this debacle, Skyman was made to be the scapegoat, and rightly so. Obviously this wouldn’t be easy for him to take but it would be even harder for an unsuspecting bartender trying to remove him from his bar. Drunk and filled with rage from his court-martial he takes his anger out on the bartender and drops the man to his death. That wasn’t enough for him as he let loose an obscenity-filled tirade about how he’s killed for his country because of politicians orders, and all of that is recorded on a personal device along with his racial slur towards the President. Yeah, things couldn’t be worse. So a new Skyman, or at least an image of a new Skyman that would remove from the public’s mind the disgraceful behavior of the previous one was an absolute necessity. Enter Sergeant Eric Reid, a veteran and former pilot currently in rehab due to a crushed vertebrae from a plane crash. Seems to be an all-around good guy. Oh yeah, and he’s black, which in light of recent events is important for appearances. So will Eric Reid be capable of being the next Skyman and creating a positive image of the program, or is the Skyman Program not to be trusted and just using him as the next patsy?

Now I wasn’t well-versed in Captain Midnight’s history or the history of the Skyman program but the premise of this story line was very interesting to me. And the opening sequence rewarded me for my interest with the actions of the previous Skyman setting up the events in this issue and series wonderfully. Seems like there’s always a scene taking place in a bar where the hero stands up for someone, or some similar character defining moment. Well this issue turns that notion on its head because instead of a moment that shows a hero’s character, a former hero takes things way too far and the power was both awesome and terrifying. This sequence conveyed clearly the severity of the problem of a hero gone wrong, and the urgent need to rectify it even in terms of just public image. And so the series of events that would follow were very believable, and since this issue didn’t shy away from its subject matter, including racism, it has created a very intriguing story line that’s ripe with potential. Eric Reid was selected because of his skin color, although he could be very qualified for all anyone else knows, and that has created some animosity from within the program, especially one in particular. But none of them see the irony of everyone who was being trained to be Skyman being extremely similar even in appearance, and how that could have been part of the problem to begin with. And there’s also the angle of Eric being handicap and unable to walk without the suit, and all that could be addressed in terms of character development, and it’s even better and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

SUMMARY

Skyman #1 is an excellent start to this series, and even though this is my first foray into Skyman terrority, it’s very engrossing due to the opening sequences, and even made me look into the history a bit more. It laid out and approached the issues in a bold, and smart way, and the resulting story lines are ripe with potential and I’m hooked. I don’t know if I can trust the Skyman Program and its intentions but this first issue has definitely built up my trust in this series.

Release Date: 1/15/14

Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov

Artist: Manuel Garcia