Writer: Paul Levitz
Artist: MJ Kim
Colorist: Diego Rodriguez
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Valiant
A mysterious agenda. Multiple attacks on infrastructure. And no one knows who is responsible. Visitor #1 tells the story of a team of scientists trying to achieve a secret mission that may be detrimental to the rest of the world while trying to stay two steps ahead of an even more mysterious foe trying to stop them.
With an opening scene like a possible terrorist attack, how can readers not be hooked right away? Paul Levitz has introduced an interesting cast of characters while keeping the titular character a mystery. As events unfold, Levitz reveals more and more of each scientist’s character and more of their mission. The readers learn just as much about the Visitor as the scientists do. It isn’t clear what their mission is, but it’s apparently enough to make some of their members paranoid about its failure due to outside interference.
MJ Kim’s art does a great job of showcasing disaster. Explosions, snapping cables, and flooding are just part of the chaos they deliver. Diego Rodriguez’s colors are amazing. Television broadcasts have a bluish tint to them, and security cameras have a hazy gray color to them. Even the explosions have a realistic quality to them. My favorite page is one where the Visitor is walking in the subway system and saves a small rat from being run over by a train. The panel layout is unique and shows how quickly things happen.
Like the rest of Valiant’s titles, Visitor #1 has no connection to its ’90s counterpart and readers do not need to have read any other Valiant titles to enjoy this. If you are looking for an action-filled story about a mysterious conspiracy, you’ll definitely want to check this out.
