Issue: Soldier Zero: Volume 1
Release Date: May 18, 2011
Author: Stan Lee, Paul Cornell
Artist: Javier Pina, Sergio Arino
Colors: Alfred Rockefeller, Archie Van Buren
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Cover: Trevor Hairsine, Alfred Rockefeller
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Disabled war veteran by day, superhero by night. This is our introduction to Stewart Trautmann, who will soon become Soldier Zero. The comic genius Stan Lee has teamed up with the writer Paul Cornell and the artist Javier Pina to being us a new kind of superhero. Soldier Zero is unlike those that have come before as he fights a galactic war on Earth against Soldier One. And he’s chosen former soldier Stewart Trautmann to help him in his mission.
Stewart is trying to deal with his disability just as much as he’s trying to deal with others’ reactions to it. He’s also trying really hard to get to know the lovely Lily, who he hopes to be more than friends with. But when a meteor hits the Earth and a spaceman’s suit provides the unique opportunity of temporary freedom from his wheelchair, Stewart becomes a superhero pretty much against his will.
Soldier Zero is a parasite in search of a new host and Stewart fits the bill well. Just as Stewart fought in the war, Soldier Zero is still fighting. He knows that others will come and he needs Stewart’s help to fight them and keep the world around them safe. And the suit offers Stewart a chance to walk, just as his brother wishes for him, even if Stewart would rather the world just accept him for who he’s become rather than focusing on what he’s lost. But the old life has been left behind as he joins with Soldier Zero to become a new entity; a soldier, a warrior, and hopefully a hero.
I liked that Soldier Zero and Stewart talked to each other and tried to feel each other out, rather than Solider Zero simply taking over his body. It was also intriguing melding these two minds together when one of them, Stewart, is war-torn and susceptible to flashbacks from his time in war. Forcing him to go through another war wasn’t helping his mental state all that much. The fight against Soldier One is all they’re supposed to care about, but Stewart wants more. He wants to know why they’re fighting, since he has no stake in the outcome, but soon that changes when Soldier One takes Lily hostage. Now it’s become personal for both Soldier Zero and Stewart himself. But the fight was quickly deterred, perhaps a little too quickly, and Soldier One was no more. All should have been well, but that’s where the complications started to arise. As we close out Volume One, the world sees Soldier Zero and Stewart as a possible threat. How will they get out of it? We’ll have to wait until Volume Two to find out!
Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
