Adventureman #1 Review

Writer: Matt Fraction / Artist: Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson / Image I love pulp. Not in the context of orange juice, but in the context of fiction. I love the over-the-top dramatics. I love the exaggeration and examination of trope. I love when creators lean a little harder into the theatrics. I love the ability to open up a new book and instantly smile at the ridiculousness of the world and be like “OK. I’m in.” And if the circumstances are such that the extra pulpy nature of a story is in service of a greater plot, even better. And I’m happy to say that Adventureman embraces that pulp from its bombastic preview on Image’s website to the opening pages of this triple length first issue.

Ostensibly, a comic called Adventureman would prominently feature the exploits of a character named Adventureman. While that is true to a point, Adventureman #1 first act is actually the conclusion of his story before seguing into the life of Claire, a single mom, and Tommy, her son, who are apparently reading the text of an old novel. So, in this thrice long issue, we have two central narrative lines. The “Adventureman” half is classic pulp superhero stories at its finest. Fraction is clearly having the time of his life writing the ham-fisted dialog and Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson also revel in the design freedoms afforded by heroes with names like “BRAWLER OF THE BOWERY” and “Phanedra Phantom,” and villains like “Baroness Bizarre”, “The Auomaterror”, and “METAMAGE.” It’s buck wild in th…