HUCK VOLUME 1
IMAGE COMICS
STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Rafael Albuquerque
COLORS: Dave McCaig
LETTERS: Nate Piekos of Blambot
EDITOR: Nicole Boose
COVER: Rafael Albuquerque
ISBN: 9781534300804; paperback; (July 26, 2016)
160pp, Color, $14.99 U.S. (May 2016)
Rated T / Teen
Huck created by Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque
Book One: All-American
Huck was a six issue comic book miniseries created by writer Mark Millar and artist Rafael Albuquerque. Originally published from 2015 to 2016, Huck focused on a man who lives in a small town from where he anonymously travels the world doing good deeds and acts of kindness and mercy using his super powers. The series was first collected as a trade paperback graphic novel in 2016.
Huck Volume 1 opens in rural Maine. In a quiet seaside town, there are picket fences, farms, old-fashioned gas stations, and everyone knows everyone. Life is a good, and it is made better by Huck, a 34-year-old young man of mysterious origins. He humbly works at a gas station, but he has special gifts and physical abilities. Each day, he uses his gifts, such as super-strength, to do a good deed.
His neighbors return his favors by keeping Huck's abilities a secret, but a newcomer to the town – in the form of Diane Davis – sees money in revealing Huck to the media. Now, Huck is about to discover that his past had an eye on the future – a dark future of beings like him.
THE LOWDOWN: Millarwold and Netflix provide me with PDF review copies of their publications and have been doing so for several years now. I recently requested a copy of Huck Volume 1 in anticipation of Huck: Big Bad World #1, which is due in May 14, 2025.
When one considers writer Mark Millar's previous work on his creator owned series like Wanted, Kick-Ass, and Nemesis, it is not unreasonable to be shocked that Millar could write a comic book like Huck: All-American. By turns sweet and sentimental, the first issue, Huck #1, almost seems like a fanciful retelling of the early years of Clark Kent. However, it goes by way of Mayberry of former CBS sitcom, “The Andy Griffith Show,” more so than by way of Superman's Metropolis. Millar tries to create the spirit of genuine Americana, and he pulls it off in a way that is different from the way two boys from Cleveland (writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster) did it.
I initially had mixed feelings about artist Rafael Albuquerque's work on Huck #1. Albuquerque is both a distinctive stylist and storyteller, but almost a decade ago, I found his work in that first issue to be flat. Now, I find Albuquerque's art to be a revelation. Huck Volume 1 is a revelation.
Albuquerque's work in the entirety of Huck is glorious. He really depicts and captures the spirit of Huck for which Millar is aiming. Huck is not so much about good versus evil as it is about people who tirelessly do for others versus people who perpetually hurt and destroy others for their own personal gain. Dave McCaig's colors convey Huck's spirit of human goodness. The lettering by Nate Piekos is classic comics cool and gives the story a vintage 1980s sci-fi movie aesthetic.
Wow! I love this first volume of Huck. I would never go against the Moonstone family and the The Magic Order, but Huck is close to being my favorite Millarworld comic book. I must have really been having a bad time in life back when Huck was originally published to have felt so “meh” about it. [Actually, there was an awful lot of family melodrama back then. It was other people's problems, and I was letting it constantly drag me down.] Anyway, the first issue of the new series, Huck: Big Bad World, is about to drop. I think I'm in a better mood to receive Huck this time.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar and Millarworld titles will want to read Huck Volume 1.
[This volume includes a section of Rafael Albuquerque's character designs, layouts, and inked art.]
A+
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The HUCK VOLUME 1 trade paperback is available at Amazon.
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