Milestone Returns brings back the Dakotaverse in a special with fantastic writers and artists! The Milestone comics started in 1993 with Dwayne McDuffie overseeing Hardware (Denys Cowan was the artist), BIood Syndicate (including Ivan Velez Jr., writer, and Denys Cowan, artist), Icon (art was by M.D. Bright), and Static (with writer Robert L. Washington III and John Paul Leon). The line ended in 1997. In 2000, the standout character was Static in the Static Shock animated series that featured Dwayne McDuffie writing and direction by Denys Cowan. The series ended in 2004. August 2020, Milestone was announced at DC FanDome. Milestone Returns was in digital form in September 2020. The FanDome announcement was a release date of February, but it was finally in comic stores on May 26th. The explosive cover by Denys Cowan features Static Shock, Icon, Rocket and Hardware!
“The Big Bang” is written by Reginald Hudlin is the director of Boomerang (1992), co-wrote Birth of a Nation: a Comic Novel (2004), and also wrote the “Who is the Black Panther?” storyline in Black Panther #1-6 (2005) that introduced Shuri. It begins with the “Milestone Returns: FanDome Preview” with art by Jim Lee and Ryan Benjamin. An officer with tactical gear mentions a riot and there are canisters by Alva Industries. The police like soldiers in military vehicles start to approach. There is a splash page of the other side are Dakota community members with masks holding up Black Lives Matter signs. It is a peaceful demonstration, just organized but the police their goggled eyes like insects blast the protestors with gas canisters. This is the Big Bang that activates the powers of Dakota citizens. A masked officer asks if someone’s face is melting. We see young Virgil Hawkins caught in the chaos, energy crackling fron his hands and eyes. A very topical event. We later see Virgil in the hospital with his family around him; his father, Dave, mother, and sister, Sharon who gossips about Virgil attending the rally by a girl.
This shifts to an office where staff members are viewing news of the protest. This features art by Denys Cowan. Curtis Metcalf, who runs Alva Industries, and he knows their chemical was involved in the police action. He drives over to his laboratory and is transformed, police enter and open fire, but now he is armored as Hardware! He sends the police scrambling way! Next we get the cell phone reporting of the young Darius checking out the hospital room of the people with emerging powers covered in bandages. He sees the ward where they keep dangerous patients, a woman is “turning into smoke”, before he is chased off by police officer. Darius covers the people who were outcast by their powers; a man with a mask who has viotile stomach acid and another kid who looks like a devil. They are all being organized by someone called Holocaust! Virgil has returned hoe and is slowly controlling his powers, bring able to bring metal objects like keys and coins to his hand. At school, he meets with the girl, Freida, but also the bully, Frank. Virgil gives Frank a right cross.
Frank starts to bully Freida and activates his flame powers with his self-styled super name, Hotstreak. Virigl activates his powers floating above him! He gives a full blast to Frank, but stops in time for the police to arrive and everyone says there is nothing going on. Then, we have the aerial craft of Icon, whom Raquel Ervin descirbes as a “200-year old super-powered alien”, and Rocket, Raquel. They are over Colombia trying to find drug factories and the ship comes under fire. Rocket drops down, the drug runners have automatic weapons as they watch over workers in masks, they fire rocket propelled grenades at Icon’s ship. Rocket builds up speed and in a splash page destorys the factory with her built up kinetic speed! The purple drugs and gunmen scatter under the explosion from Rocket’s fist! Icon flies out his ship, sends a blast from his eyes, and then brings up the guns with his powers. Later on a beach, Icon and Rocket have some tacos, he insists she call her mother. She has discovered the protest and the Big Bang so they are about to return to Dakota.
At the secret meeting with a guard outside, the outcast powered meet with Holocaust, he unites them with their powers against the troops. They have their own army, a super powered army! Then, there is a brief origin of Rocket, she sneaks into a mansion, encounters Icon. He shows his alien form and they go into action as Icon and Rocket. Icon relates his alien past announcing to the “people of Earth”, that he is not the only alien on Earth. Icon explains that Earth is primitive, not because of its technology, but because of its morality. He says the world can be united by love and not understanding this, he has teamed up with Rocket. On multiple screens that Icon monitors the world, he mentions Static, and that they should know more about him. We see Virgil invited to the protest by Freida, his bullying by Frank, whom he tackles. The fighting by Frank and his bullies makes the police think it’s a riot. We see Frank fighting with Virgil at the school, he activates a sprinkler to neutralize their powers and leaps over the police officers with riot shields. Icon shows Rocket the other strange, powered people. One is a racist, about to hunt a couple, and others a fusion of a couple into a super powered being! The issue also features art by ChrisCross. An impressive preview of the Milestone titles; Static, Icon and Rocket, Hardware, all Season one 6 issue series! Milestone feels like touches of the real world with the fantasy of super powers, and some terrific action and art!
Four Quantum Juice canisters out of Five!
#MilestoneReturns, #ReginaldHudlin, #DenysCowan, #RyanBenjamin, #ChrisCross.
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