Lion Forge’s Astonisher Vol. 1 Challenges Your Expectations of Super Heroes

Writer: Alex De Campi / Artists: Pop Mhan, Jessica Kholinne / Lion Forge Imagine, if you will, a smoothie. I’m talkin’ maybe an apple juice base with some bananas and kale. Then maybe you can throw in some spinach and even a few slices of apple. It’s a pretty basic smoothie. Something you get all the time. Turn on that blender and everything mixes together with ease. It comes out cold, smooth, and it goes down easily. Now imagine if the ingredients to that smoothie were aspects of a story. I’m talkin’ maybe a white male base with some wealth and privilege. Then maybe you can throw in a hot model girlfriend and a few jealous siblings. It’s a pretty basic story. Something you get all the time. Now, what if we threw some PTSD in that smoothie? Have I lost you? Does my obscure analogy make sense? Yeah, we got you, dog. But did you say PTSD? That’s like throwing ginger into the smoothie, fam. That’s changing the DNA. Well, that’s what Astonisher is. It’s here to challenge your expectations about stories that you think you’ve heard before. The series follows Magnus Attarian, a wealthy 30-year-old hotshot whose past hobbies include creating apps and trying to make cars that can travel through space. Yeah, he’s that guy. But after a meteor shower known as “The Event” came crashing down to Earth, Magnus lost a lot of his credibility due to his failed attempt to stop it. Now, a washed-up, disabled shell of his former self, he starts to develop powers. Volume one spends most of its tim…