Nowhere Men #1 (Image Comics), Review

Written by: Eric Stephenson

Artwork by: Nate Bellegarde

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

This new comic book from Image Comics is about four scientists, Simon Grimshaw, Thomas Walker, Emerson Strange and Dade Ellis, who are now in the public spotlight with their scientific alliance named World Corp.  It is written by newcomer Eric Stephenson and drawn by Nate Bellegarde (he will also be doing Glory #31 in December). 

The book starts out with a brief preface of the four scientists talking about what they’re going to say at a press conference and how they are going to act in front of the cameras now that they are the rock stars of the science world.

Cut to the future (years later) and there is a giant rocky figure destroying a laboratory and the scientists trapped within it. The four scientists are discussing how detrimental this could be to their organization and how they should handle it. There is a struggle of ethics here; Simon wants to proceed with the experiments and believes the reward is greater than the small losses, but Emerson and Ellis do not want to proceed.

We then cut to the infirmary of World Corp where a woman is giving another woman a shot for her headache. The two kiss and then the woman with the needle moves on to another room with her boss. In this room, a man claims his hand is disappearing; he claims that it passed right through a keypad. The man also says everyone in the room is under quarantine indefinitely. 

The comic book then takes us to another man and woman who have been infected by a virus. However, they discover this virus, although it has mutated them, is non-lethal. The man has half of him turned inside out (and his right arm is larger than his left arm). The woman is suffering from fever and forgets what she is saying. We are introduced to another woman, Karen, who is seeing things in her mind, almost like dreams, but she isn’t sure if they are hers or not. Then, cut to more sick men working in a lab, doubting what they are doing is worthwhile. They find out that they are under quarantine indefinitely, also. Better yet–we find out that this whole quarantine is taking place in outer space, on what appears to be a large satellite.  

The first opinion I’d like to give about this comic is the artwork by Bellegarde and the color by Bellaire. The cover is awesome–it looks like AMC’s Mad Men meets Two Face from Batman. Nate Bellegarde’s artwork throughout the comic is creative and detailed and makes this new series worth the pick up. A few pages in there is a drawing of the rocky looking monster that must’ve been the creation of a nightmare, as this glowing freak of science puts fear right into the reader’s bones.

Secondly, Eric Stephenson has created the groundwork for a creative story in the science world. I like that he started the series off with a preface and didn’t just jump right into the story as some do. We are only given enough information to set up the big picture of the story. It isn’t much, but it does make us want to purchase the next issue. However, I cannot yet formulate a guess about where Stephenson is going to take us with this story. Are the scientists who are trapped in space going to turn against each other due to the virus that has taken all of them? Will they work with each other to find a cure? Will they survive and then wage war on the scientists responsible for turning them into mutants? These are all good options for Stephenson and I am excited to see how the story unfolds.

Again, Image Comics has sparked my interest with Nowhere Men. Issue #1 has laid the groundwork with the right ingredients to create an awesome new comic book and I am anxious to pick up the second issue to determine whether or not this story is going to live up to the potential. Stephenson’s story in issue #1 receives an 8 out of 10, while Bellegarde’s artwork receives a 9 out of 10.  Overall, this first issue of Nowhere Men receives a score of 8.5 out of 10, and we look forward to seeing Nowhere Men live up to its potential with the next issue on December 19.

Story: 8/10

Art: 9/10

Overall: 8.5/10