Cave Carson Has A
Cybernetic Eye #1 –
Young Animal / DC Comics
Written by Gerard Way & Jon Rivera
Art by Michael Avon Oeming
Colors by Nick Filardi
Letters by Clem Robins
One thing I can say so far about the Young Animal imprint of DC Comics, it’s that it has been exactly as advertised. A little crazy, a little out there and at times a bit all over the place. Whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing is all in what you like from your comics. This time we get to see a familiar face, even if it’s one that not all fans may remember. Time to dive into the pages of Cave Carson.
The story starts off pretty crazy, and then takes a very emotional turn. We’re dealing with an older Cave Carson, now with a grown daughter, who is dealing with a tragedy in his life that leaves him questioning his place. Even with all of that, he still seems to be trying to lead the normal life that he and his wife wanted to live. That is seemingly put on hold where the cybernetic eye itself seems to be going a bit haywire. As the story goes on, you start to wonder if it is the eye or if what he is seeing is actually real. If dealing with that wasn’t enough, his old life seems to be trying to suck him back in. The past clashes with the present a lot in this story, and that is certainly the case with the last few pages. That’s where the book takes a big turn where that conflict, and a surprising appearance by a familiar character, leave you wondering where this story is going to go next.
This book did one thing that the other Young Animal stories that I have read so far, I feel, failed to really do. I really cared about Cave, how he felt and what was happening to him. It wasn’t crazy for the sake of being crazy. This book had plenty of that, but the real meat of this book finally gave it’s main character a soul. Way and Rivera gave us a Cave Carson we have never had before, and created an unfamiliar and unique feeling to his story. Vagary was replace by intrigue, and randomness was replaced by a controlled chaos. This is what I was hoping to get from this pop-up imprint, and it looks like it’s finally here. Add that to the solid art from Avon Oeming, and this may be the book that finally gets the ball rolling. Read the back story on the character in the back of this issue, do a little digging and that will make you appreciate the story even more. I’m not 100% sold yet, but I am more optimistic with this title than any from Young Animal so far.
RATING: PICK UP