Indie Spotlight - TEN #1

Rob reviews TEN #1...

Created by Dr. Christopher Rhodes TEN asks what our world would be like with super-powered people. Would they fight crime? Stand against prejudice? Or use their powers for fame and glory?

While it's a premise that's been seen before, TEN adds quite a spin to proceedings - these super-powered individuals have been chosen by us to represent the best humanity. Originally just normal humans, these ten individuals were then granted great power by an alien race. Now, 5 years later and Christopher Rhodes shows how much everything has been changed by the "Ten".

Opening this new series is Brian Johnson, a black Navy veteran who now goes under the moniker, 'Peacekeeper'. As one of the 'ten', Johnson falls under the jurisdiction of the United States government. However, while Johnson - as Peacekeeper - looks after American affairs abroad, he's banned from using his power on home soil. This all changes when a group of domestic terrorists takes two prominent members of the US senate hostage, Johnson is called to help. 

With the terrorist's demands seemingly met, and the exchange of the hostages arranged, Johnson is sent in undercover as part of the military squad. However, it isn't long before tensions boil over and Johnson has to decide if Peacekeeper's intervention is worth the potential risk. 

TEN #1 works as a great introduction to this new superhero universe. Throughout, Rhodes sows the seeds to the greater plot, whilst simultaneously building the tensions between the Ten and the wider world. Unlike other superhero comics, TEN also grounds itself in the real world. There's a great sequence at the start which sees Brian on a talk show. While he's a decorated veteran, the host ignores this in an attempt to manipulate Brian into souring his relationship with the rest of the Ten, and the wider public. This is shown more as there's growing unrest within the Black community and media bias decides to portray Peacekeeper as the figurehead of the movement. 

While the rest of the Ten don't necessarily appear within this issue, Rhodes does give a glimpse as to their state of play. Naturally, with super-powered individuals with their personalities and motivations, there would be those who stand on both sides of the line. While Peacekeeper and fellow Ten member Stargazer stand for those traditional superhero ideals, Rhodes touches upon missing Russian "hero" Pytor, and Leticia - who happens to own a certain media station. It does plenty to get you invested in the characters, whilst keeping plenty of mystery for their one-shots. It's also given me plenty of questions as to who the other six members are, and more importantly - their powers. The variation in the Ten can also allow Rhodes to go to some interesting places. Especially if he's content with utilizing our world as inspiration.

Could the reason thatPytor is missing have something to do with the current flash point in Ukraine? I may be splitting hairs, but it's certainly an interesting idea. 

In terms of pacing, Rhodes gets it to spot on. There's a great mix showcasing Peacekeeper's abilities with full-page action sequences and variations of cell size. This is then slowed down slightly as the Brian Johnson side of the character takes over for the world-building and character development. It's done in a way that mimics plenty of Superman comics. We have a little bit of Clark Kent, which then ups the tempo with a switch to Superman. 

The artwork comes from Marcos Lima, who brings some nice clean linework to proceedings. There's a great full-page action scene that follows Peacekeeper as he infiltrates an underground bunker. Lima does it in a way that the action flows from the top of the page to the bottom - with Peacekeeper blasting through the middle panels. The human side of the comic is also well captured with Lima paying close attention to each character's facial expressions. It's a simple touch but adds so much more to the dialogue. Sal Monaco's colors also help the characters stand out from the page. There's a great difference in tone as we go from the dusty desert feel of the comic second act, into the urban jungle of the United States.

While I enjoyed the whole comic book, I do have one slight criticism. It's not prevalent on every page, but the copy I'm writing this review from seems to suffer from some of the font being squashed together. It doesn't make the font unreadable, but it does seem to cut the bottom off of some letters. (See the below image as an example). 

All in all, with issue #1 TEN sets itself off to a great start. Christopher Rhodes sets his story in motion with subtle hints of things yet to come. Across this opening act, you can tell that this is a comic book that's been written by a comic book fan. Rhodes knows how to keep his audience interested, and he's done it here with relative ease. 

With the rest of the Ten awaiting their introductions and the inkling of a wider conspiracy, TEN is one comic book series that you don't want to miss! 

Rating: 8/10 

Want to check out TEN #1 for yourself? You can do so by clicking here. 

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Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter, Hive, Facebook, & TikTok @GeekCultureRev