Before we begin the review, DC recently revealed the Creative Teams involved in the new Milestone Relaunch Titles: Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware. Would like to congratulate the Artists and Writers involved in the relaunch.
It is finally here, the original Milestone changed the face of superhero comics forever, introducing Black Artists and Creators who still shape the conversation. At the beginning of this relaunch, there was a bit of a change involving the Big Bang Incident. A Police Brutality Protest went wrong that changed the city of Dakota forever, it unleashed a wave of superpowers across its population, The world watched as a bullied teenager named Virgil Hawkins becomes the electrically powered hero known as Static, a scientist who was framed and has to go on the run as a Superweapon known as Hardware. And a stranded alien who meets an ambitious young woman who transformed his life, remaking the pair into the all-powerful Superhero Duo is known as Icon and Rocket.
Milestone Comics was the imprint that was ahead of its time during the 90s, it always tackled big issues that have been on the minds of Black People, now it returns to a pivotal time in American History, tacking big issues such as Racial Inequality, Police Brutality, and Racism.
As I have mentioned before, there are some big changes in this relaunch, for example, The Big Bang. In the original Milestone Universe, the Big Bang was the fallout from a massive battle between Dakota’s gangs. Virgil was right in the middle of the battle, he planned to shoot his tormentor, Biz Money B who would eventually become a hot-headed flame-powered villain named Hot Streak. Virgil would become Static, and the others would be Metahumans or better known to many as ‘Bang Babies’. This would also lead to a superpowered gang known as the Blood Syndicate. Now that the universe has been changed, the events of the Big Bang have changed with it, taking place during a Black Lives Matter Protest. Virgil was attending the protest, but a fight broke out and it caused the police to disperse cans of Quantum Powder in the crowd, resulting in him and others to become metahumans.
The World watched as countless people including Virgil become Metahumans, this included several heroes, Curtis Metcalf, a scientist on the run, being framed due to the untested chemical used in the Protest turned Highschool kids into Metahumans (Bang Babies.) Becomes the hero known as Hardware. A stranded alien who meets an ambitious young woman who transformed his life, remaking the pair into the all-powerful Superhero Duo is known as Icon and Rocket. But there is a fun fact here, Hot Streak wasn’t the only villain to make an appearance in this infinite edition, and that man was Leonard Smalls Jr. also known as Holocaust.
I would like to discuss the talented writers and artists involved in this relaunch, DC recently revealed the Creative Teams for the new Milestone Relaunch Titles, some were also featured in the Infinite Edition too. Each of these artists and writers has put their hearts and souls into each of these stories, you had creators such as Reginald Hudlin, Denys Cowan (One of the founders of Milestone Comics), Bill Sienkiewicz, ChrisCross, Chris Sotomayor, Nikolas Draper-Ivey who helped make this possible and for both old and new fans to enjoy. Dwayne McDuffie would be proud to see Milestone return, see the characters and stories he helped create live on and inspire a new generation.
Final Grade:
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