RESURGENCE #1, by Valiant Entertainment on 9/18/24, marks the beginning of the end for Death, but how steep a price will the Earth pay for immortality, and can Unity balance the scales?
Credits:
- Writer: Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Fred Van Lente, A.J. Ampadu
- Artist: Guillermo Fajardo, Julio Azamor
- Colorist: Lautaro Ftuli, Ludwig Olimba
- Letterer: Ezequiel Inverni
- Cover Artist: Guillermo Fajardo (cover A)
- Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
- Release Date: September 18, 2024
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Page Count: 34
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of RESURGENCE #1:
First Impressions:
Since Alien Books partnered with Valiant to bring their universe back to LCS shelves, their marketing materials have heavily pushed Resurgence as the mother of all crossovers to repay long-waiting Valiant fans for their patience. Resurgence #1 is finally here, and for the most part, a small army of creators deliver on that promise with a first issue that looks great, is largely well-written (except for one part we’ll get to later), and builds up a world-shaking threat that justifies bringing Unity back together. Resurgence #1 isn’t a perfect comic, but it’s certainly one of the better issues out of the new Alien/Valiant partnership.
Plot Analysis:
Resurgence #1 begins with Dr. Augustus Silk chatting with Eidolon about his desire to elevate humanity to immortality. His plans for achieving that end are within reach. Eidolon, a Psiot who manipulates DNA, agrees with Silk’s lofty goals, but she’s smart enough to pick up on Silk’s personal ambitions.
The first scene informs readers about Silk’s personality and establishes his motives. Like a typical politician, Silk says all the right words to appease his listeners, but there’s an undercurrent in his tone and word choices that sounds self-serving and phony. In short, Silk doesn’t pass the authenticity sniff test.
Elsewhere, we catch up with Gilad and Tama walking through the woods to find the next portal that’s about to open, connecting the Earth with the Faraway. They find the portal, but before Tama can close it with her Geomancer powers, a jaw-snapping dinosaur lunges through and swallows Gilad whole. The dinosaur turns its sights on Tama. Suddenly, the dinosaur is ripped through the middle by the blade-wielding Savage, who frees Gilad and tells Tama and Gilad to keep closing portals to stop invaders from entering his land.
As a heads up, the creators ensure every Valiant hero and villain gets a moment in this issue, even if it is brief. The preceding scene is important because it showcases the difficulty Tama has with closing portals, the dangerous critters that could come through from the Faraway, and Savage’s struggle to keep out invaders on his side of the portals. In and of itself, the sequence drops multiple nuggets of information wrapped in an exciting dinosaur fight.
In Topeka, Kansas, a boy named Chris is goaded by his friends to make a dangerous leap into a ravine on his bike, inviting certain Death. With the promise of notoriety from recording his death jump while streaming online, Chris goes for it. He dies, and then he’s alive. Death is, indeed, ending.
Chris’s exploits, which interweave through the issue as he grapples with the aftermath, underscore how the absence of Death is affecting everyday life for everyday people in a myriad of ways. Some people consider it a blessing. Others consider it a curse. It helps to see how the average person’s first brush with immortality isn’t necessarily a happy one.
Back at Silk’s growing commune, Kay, the Geomancer before Tama, witnesses a ritual that brings Flamingo back to life. Flamingo is confused and uncertain about how and why she was brought to life, and she’s especially unconvinced about Silk and all of humanity becoming gods.
If you’re wondering why this issue is rated Mature, this scene is the reason for full-frontal nudity. Also, the scene establishes the potential for dissent within Silk’s inner ranks if Flamingo doesn’t fully buy into what Silk is selling. The scene concludes with Shadowman and Darque both considering the cost of Flamingo’s resurrection from their respective shadowy corners.
What follows is a brief collection of scenes wherein Armstrong and Ivar chat about the contrast of living in the now versus working for the future, Livewire stealthily infiltrating a Silk rally to find the location of the leader’s commune, Tama getting snatched through a portal at the coincidental moment Kay reaches out to Gilad for his support once again, Faith rescuing construction workers from a Faraway lava flow, and Ninjak getting frustrated because his lethal moves are no longer lethal.
When we say every hero gets a moment, we mean it. This issue flows reasonably well, but some readers may find it a little overstuffed. Chris’s additional scenes may be part of a grander plan, but perennial favorite characters like Ninjak lose page space in the exchange. Further, the story takes a nosedive (as hinted in the First Impressions above) as soon as Faith gets a turn. Her narration and dialog are painfully annoying. There’s nothing wrong with being an overweight superhero to make a point about representation, but it would help if her poor health wasn’t accompanied by a poor personality.
The issue ends with Ivar, aka Timewalker, gathering the Unity aboard his space station to strategize, starting with a special mission for X-O Manowar.
Overall, Resurgence #1 lives up to expectations by bringing (almost) every hero from Valiant’s catalog together to face a threat against the natural order of Life and Death. Every hero gets a moment to shine, the challenge seems monumental, and the path forward is unpredictable. As crossovers go, Resurgence #1 is a decent start.
Artwork and Presentation:
We’re used to seeing Guillermo Fajardo’s name as one of the top-tier Zenescope artists, so you’d be right to expect a comic with lots of detail, strong figure work, and mature action. Fajardo delivers in spades, so you know you’re getting a great-looking comic. Plus, Julio Azamor picks up the interconnected scenes with Chris to give readers the everyday person’s perspective. Admittedly, Fajardo and Azamor’s styles don’t complement each other, and it’s not clear why the style needed to change, but Azamor also does a great job with his part.
Art Samples:
The Bigger Picture:
Series Continuity:
The big question new readers will likely want to know is, “How much or little do you need to know to hop into this event?” The short answer is, “A lot.” The status of each character and their relationships with one another rely heavily on the knowledge of events from recent Valiant titles. For example, you would need to know that Armstrong is no longer immortal, that X-O Manowar was recently fighting a war in space, and that Flamingo was dead for the developments in this issue to make sense. Of course, there are plenty of back issues available to catch up, but there’s enough required backstory to say this issue is NOT a good jumping-on point.
Final Thoughts:
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RESURGENCE #1 was promised to be the mother of all crossovers for Valiant. On the whole, the publisher delivered. The creative teams do their best to give every hero a moment to shine as they face an Earth-shaking threat, and the art looks great. That said, the issue feels overstuffed at times, and some of the conversations/scenes don’t make sense if you don’t already know the current status of every character.
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