THE ANTAGONISTS #1 – Indie Review

In THE ANTAGONISTS #1, available from Godhood Comics via Kickstarter, Calvin and Tonya Eval are a successful, high-powered couple striving to raise their two children in suburban America. They also happened to be a pair of former supervillains in hiding.

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The Details

• Written By: Tyler F. Martin
• Art By: Giacomo Guida
• Letters By: Cristian Docolomansky
• Cover Art By: Kelechi Nwaogwugwu
• Cover Price: $5.00 (pdf via Kickstarter)
• Release Date: April 2021 (estimated)

Was It Good?

This is a unique take on the superhero comic space by telling a story completely from the villains’ point of view. You don’t get that perspective often, and so this is a great opportunity for a rarely seen point of view. In other words, this story is good specifically because it is so different.

That said, it was tough to embrace the story because there is not one redeeming character in it. Calvin and Tonya Eval are in hiding after years of supervillainy, and while they’ve largely succeeded in keeping up appearances, their public personas are barely keeping their villainy in check. In the case of this story, the mask fully slips when the pressures of a mundane life come to bear.

Can you like and enjoy a comic when everyone in it is an awful person? I don’t mean ‘awful’ as in an it’s-fun-to-be-bad or a-villain-you-love-to-hate sort of way. I mean constant-hate-and-negative-energy-emanating-from-a-pair-of-brutal-murderers-on-every-panel type of ‘awful’.

That’s not to say the story isn’t well-written. The dialog is excellent, especially between Calvin and his daughter. The plot progression works as an exceptionally well-done first issue to introduce you to all the characters. And the pacing is brisk without feeling rushed. Structurally, this is a top-notch comic.

Likewise, the art is very good. Guida’s linework is sharp and detailed, especially on the contours. And the coloring gives every character a full and textured finish. I enjoyed the art in this comic a lot, which is a surprise because there is so little action in this introduction to the arc.

Overall, this is a unique comic telling the story fully from a villain family’s perspective with great art and great writing. However, the lack of any character to root for or get behind makes the reading experience a downer.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Calvin and Tonya Eval are a successful couple living in suburbia with their two children. Calvin is the stern and commanding principal of his daughter’s high school. Tonya is a high-powered executive at a commercial real estate firm. By every standard measure, their family is the very picture of the American dream.

But there’s trouble in Paradise. Calvin struggles to maintain objectivity and keep his mental powers in check when his teenage, cheerleader daughter increasingly shows behavior problems in school.

Tonya has it worse when her ambitious hunger for advancement in the firm hits another stumbling block when she’s passed over for promotion… again. Using her super hearing, Tonya learns her boss not only lied about recommending her for promotion but has secretly been sabotaging any chance for Tonya to get out from under his heel.

Therefore, Tonya does what any former supervillain who once attempted (and succeeded) in kidnapping the President and killing many innocent people does, she waits until her boss gets to his car and… lets him know what she thinks of him.

We conclude the issue with a flashback to show just exactly why Calvin and Tonya Eval are the world’s most hunted and hated supervillains.

Final Thoughts

THE ANTAGONISTS #1 is a unique comic told from the supervillain’s perspective. How do you live a “normal” life when the world wants you dead, and how do you raise children when you can’t fully resist giving in to the worst of human impulses? This first issue doesn’t answer those questions, but it’s worth checking out the next issue to find out.

Score: 9/10