Review: The Bounce #1

Writer:  Joe Casey
Pencils, Inks & Color Supervision:  David Messina
Colorist:  Giovanna Niro
Letterer:  Rus Wooton
Graphic Designer & Story Consult:  Sonia Harris

Image Comics is releasing a new title this week with Joe Casey and David Messina’s The Bounce #1.  I had no idea what to expect going into this introductory issue.  But it doesn’t hurt to give a first issue a try.

What I Liked

From what I can gather, The Bounce is a book about a young vigilante hero fighting crime in the city.  He has a unique powerset of ricocheting his body off the environment.  There are even fun sound effects of BOING! and SPROING! as he bounces back and forth.  I like that you don’t see this powerset used often.  So it helps differentiate our hero from other established stars in other companies.

The story by Joe Casey was easy to follow, and established everything we need to know going forward.  We have our main hero, villains, and a possible threat all introduced before the book ended.

What I Didn’t Like

Okay, time for me to nitpick.  We know our hero’s real name is Jasper Jenkins.  What we don’t find out is what is his codename while fighting crime.  The book is called “The Bounce” but Jenkins doesn’t refer to himself as that.  Casey also establishes Jenkins as a slacker by showing him smoking a bong.  I’m sure this is to show Jenkins as an “every man” that readers can relate to.  But nowadays it just seems writers use drug use as an easy tool to show a character’s flaws.

Summary

The Bounce #1 was an adequate first issue.  I didn’t dislike it, but it also didn’t do much to give me a sense of excitement for the next issue to come out.  I will stick with the book for the first few issues to see where the story goes, and then make a final decision on whether it keeps space in my reading itinerary.

This review is written in partnership with Pop Culture Network.  They can be found at their website http://www.popculturenetwork.com/

Timdogg

#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE