Review: Insufferable #1

Insufferable #1 (Mark Waid, Peter Krause) -

The champion of the digital comic revolution, Mark Waid, has teamed up with former Irredeemable artist Peter Krause to bring a brand new comic to the internet masses. The series seems to be following in the footsteps of a growing number of works by making the main focus of the book a former sidekick. Like Danger Club, Insufferable uses the partner dynamic that is so deeply connected to the superhero genre to explore a fairly simple deconstruction: What if a great superhero's sidekick became an insufferable d-bag?

One of Waid's goals is to create digital comic books that actually take advantage of the new medium. To that end, the first issue of Insufferable is purpose built to showcase just how different a digital comic can be when the artist isn't constrained by the rectangular space of the physical comic book page. Krause and colorist Nolan Woodard's art flows far more smoothly than comics that have been retrofit to be distributed digitally. There are a couple of incredible sequences where panels appear and reappear giving the story a dramatic feel that couldn't really be duplicated in a traditional physical comic.

The story is just tantalizing enough to make me want to know more. There's adequate information doled out to give readers a clear picture of who the characters are and where they stand in relation to each other. In very short order, a reader should be able to understand the personalities that are in play despite the fact that they are all brand new. On top of that, the ending of the issue drops a little cliffhanger that has me excited about the second installment and wanting to know more.

Overall, Insufferable number one was a strong first issue.  I am excited to see how Waid and Krause play with the digital comic book form.  With two of the industry's established talents working on digital only pieces, this could be the first step in a long march toward changing the face of the medium.