Advance Review: Underground #1 – by Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber

First off, I must apologize for the lack of frequent updating this week, I have been rather under the weather, then I had a cold which knocked me down for a couple of days there.

Anyway, on with the show…

A couple of days ago Steve Lieber sent me a special advance copy on a new comic book series that he and Jeff Parker are working on. So, I thought it would be a cool idea to do an advance review of the issue for the site.

Underground is an upcoming five issue miniseries written by Jeff Parker, and illustrated by Steve Lieber. Steve Lieber is a very talented artist who’ss best known work includes runs on Detective Comics, Hawkman, Civil War: Frontline, and arguably his most famous work, Whiteout (soon to be a motion picture). Jeff Parker is a writer best know for his work at Marvel comics such as Agents of Atlas and Exiles. Parker and Lieber are both members of Portland’s famous Periscope studios, and Underground is set to be their first collaborative effort.

Underground tells the story of Park Ranger Wesley Fischer. Wesley is a newcomer to the Apalchian town of Marion, a small town facing economic ruin. In a bid to increase commerce in the town, local businessman Winston Barefoot has proposed that the town’s, state parks protected, Stillwater cave complex is opened up as a tourist attraction. This proposition has lots of support amongst the townsfolk of Marion, who see this as a way to attract rich tourists to the region, but Wesley Fischer, the town’s newest park ranger is vehemently against the idea. Wesley believes that opening the cave complex up as a show cave would have a terrible effect on the fragile environments and ecosystems that exists in a delicate balance within the caverns. She thinks that the caves she be left as they are, locked up and under state park protection, a view which makes her none too popular with the locals.

As the story opens our protagonist is seen to wake up in bed with a man. It soon becomes apparent that this is a ‘morning after’ situation, and that the man in bed with her is a fellow park ranger, Seth. A rather sweet and embarrassing scene is then depicted, in which Wesley practices a variety of corny things to say when she wakes Seth up. Finally she returns to the bedroom and admits that she “doesn’t know what to do, or what to say”. Seth Smiles at this, and suggests they go grab breakfast together. The couple are having breakfast in the town’s dinner, when Chief Winston Barefoot walks in with the local media in tow. The Chief takes the opportunity to confront Wes in front of the townsfolk, accusing here of trying to take food out of their mouth’s for the sake of what they see as just an old cave. Wes runs out of the diner, upset at Seth for not defending her, and the two then part ways and go about their rangers duties.

Seth’s route today has him patrolling the Stillwater area, around the old cave complex. On his patrol Seth hears the sound of explosions, and follows them to their source at the entrance to the caves, which is supposed to be kept under lock and key all the time. Meanwhile, inside the caves two thugs for hire have been setting dynamite charges and clearing out certain area of the complex. They have just set their final charge when they are rumbled by Seth. Seth quizzes the men as to what they are up to, breaking into government property, and wants to take the men in for questioning. The thug holding the detonator box panics under questioning, and flicks the switch by mistake, detonating the explosives right behind Seth, throwing him through the air and into a stone wall. The thugs panic and run off to find their boss, who’s solution to the problem is to dispose of all the evidence, and Seth with it.

Meanwhile, Wes is on her patrol route when she hears a series of explosions, and heads to the caves herself to investigate. When she gets there she finds Seth’s body laying face down on a cavern floor. The issue ends here, leaving us a a tense cliffhanger. Is Seth alive or dead? Who is setting explosives in the caves? What are they hoping to accomplish? Are they connected to Chief Barefoot? What are they willing they do to conceal their activities, and what will they do to Wes when they return to find her at the scene of the crime….

I must admit that I have never read anything from Jeff Parker before. This isn’t through any intentional effort on my behalf, it just happens that I have never read any comics that he has worked on. This introduction to his work had me really impressed though, as he laid this opening issue out with incredible deftness. Much of the background for the story is expertly brought to the attention of the reader in the opening pages of the story, this is accomplished in the form of a news report by a local TV anchor. After the back story is outlined, we get introduced to our protagonists, then our antagonist, and then the plot proper kicks in. It is a classic layout, and works really well here, keeping the introductions short and sweet, and rapidly drawing us into the story. Parker’s dialogue also works really well, and his characterization is spot on. I found my self really invested in what happens to these characters, and the cliffhanger left me really on the edge of my seat, waiting for more.

Steve Leiber’s art on this book is by far the most excellent artwork that I have seen from him on any title. The scenes that take place in the caverns have a wonderful ‘negative space’ look to them that I am a real sucker for. It is that look where the image is seems that it is almost all black overlay, and the artist has etched through to the underlying image. It is a magnificent effect, and works spectacularly on this book. Lieber’s real skills though lays in his portal of facial expression. He has an uncanny ability to convey human emotion through his character’s expressions that is almost unmatched in the industry. The closest analogue would have to be Terry Moore and his work on Strangers in Paradise, and Echo. Yes, the art here is THAT good!

The colouring on the issue was done by Ron Chan, who has done a wonderful job of bringing Lieber’s pencils and inks to life. His use of colour is really live and vibrant, and makes the comic really easy on the eye. In the final cave scenes he adopts a two-tone black and red look that really adds to the scene, and makes it quite dark and atmospheric.

I was incredibly impressed with the first issue of Underground. Conceptually the story is very interesting, it is an action/adventure thriller set against a classic background of man versus environment. It raises some interesting socio-political questions about whether a community should be able to profit from the exploitation on a sensitive ecosystem, or whether they should languish and make personal sacrifices to the benefit of nature. Parker, Lieber, and Chan have done a wonderful job on every aspect of this comic, and I am very much looking forward to getting a printed copy in my hands. I’m definitely on board for the rest of the series too, as I need to know what happens next, the future of the town of Marion, and the Stillwater caves; and what the fates hold for Seth and Wes. This comic is a wonderfully original example character driven, creator-owned material, it is top-notch, grade A stuff!