With all four of the Young Animal launch titles on stands, it’s safe to say that DC Comics’ new imprint is a big creative success for the publisher. (And a commercial success too, with Doom Patrol debuting as one of the top 20 best-selling comics of September.) Each book is doing something different with established DC concepts, with creators that have distinct points of view and are given the freedom to be weird, abstract, and a little alienating. Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye doesn’t just have the best title of any new superhero comic this year; it’s a compelling character study of a man grieving the loss of his wife and trying to maintain his connection to his daughter while dealing with a dramatic increase in strange shit surrounding him. Gerard Way and Jon Rivera’s story is rooted in the pulp adventurer past of their title character, but it’s moving in a much more high-concept direction that blends a number of genres into something unique and engaging.
This preview of next week’s Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye #2 begins with sci-fi horror as it details the gruesome moment when Cave Carson got his cybernetic eye. Michael Avon Oeming’s heavily shadowed artwork sets an ominous atmosphere while Nick Filardi’s neon colors add an otherworldly element to the visuals, and the moment of cybernetic implant is rendered with grotesque detail that accentuates Cave’s pain. The composition of the title page creates an explosive illusion with the way the light shines on the rock formations behind Cave, and Oeming and Filardi’s long creative relationship has resulted in some spectacular imagery as they both push themselves to think bigger and bolder.
The main story in this book is great, but it also has the best back-up of the Young Animal titles: Tom Scioli’s “Super Powers.” The recurring strip allows Scioli to do whatever the hell he wants with the massive stable of DC characters, and this preview page offers Scioli’s take on the Sea Devils, Captain Marvel Jr., and a World War II-era Mister Miracle. There’s much to appreciate in the pages of Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye, and like the rest of Young Animal titles, this book shows the value of allowing superhero creators to let their imaginations run wild.