This is a sad day for your friendly neighborhood columnist… the Patriots lost Sunday night to the evil Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts!!!!!!!! I would like you all to observe a moment of silence in honor of the team of the decade’s loss, but before you do that we have a Milestone comic to review.

This week we cover Icon #4

(Click the cover for a larger version!)

Well, this is the book I have been waiting to review because it has something that doesn’t really show up too much on your average comic book cover, a super hero using a home pregnancy test. This was pretty daring stuff back in 1993, and it’s a story line that could have caused a fledgling comic book company some serious trouble if handled badly. Fortunately, as you will see in this and in future columns, Milestone did not drop the ball!

This issue opens up with Rocket in denial over her pregnant condition. She takes on two muggers knocking them around with her force belt’s power supplying her with all the juice she will need, all the while thinking “how can I be pregnant when I can do this?” She is later in her apartment on Paris Island, telling a friend that she thinks she may be pregnant. What follows is some very funny dialogue that is just what you think two friends would say to each other when one of them just blurts out “ I think I might be pregnant”. For example, Raquel’s friend thinks she is a still a virgin, her response to this was “ I am. Once removed”. Her friend’s response:

Raquel’s concern is that she cannot have this baby right now. While she admits it would be cool to have a child, she would have no money to take care of it or even be able to finish school. Of course the two friends agree that Raquel needs to find out for sure if she is pregnant, and to do this they take the time honored trip to the Pharmacy to purchase a pregnancy test. What happens next is what a teenager who is trying to buy an embarrassing item in any store would truly dread:

(Click the scan for a larger version!)

Meanwhile, Icon is breaking up a car jacking in downtown Dakota, all the while thinking about his young partner. “The very IDEA of her having a child! She’s little more than a child HERSELF”, He thinks as he flies to his office for a two o’clock meeting he has in his alter ego of Augustus Freeman. Clearly, Icon truly needs to get a little more in touch with the real world because if he did he would not be too shocked by Raquel’s pregnancy. His meeting is with his law partner, Saul, about the case that they took on to defend Kevin Franklin (A.K.A. Payback, the man who held the Mayor hostage in the first three issues of Icon). They discuss the fact that defending Payback will be a very hard case to win, and Augustus wants Saul’s opinion on their client’s rant about a conspiracy theory involving the Big Bang, the Mayor, and the experimental gas used on the gang-bangers. Now here in the real world the Milestone readers know that there is some connection, and in comic book land Saul thinks that it is very plausible that the city did exactly what Payback said they did. With the knowledge that even his law partner believes Payback’s story, Icon vows to do what he promised his new client he would do: Find out the truth about the Big Bang. He starts by doing some conventional research, reading news articles and looking at pictures of the devastation left by the Big Bang. He comes to the conclusion that the rise of super powered gang members so soon after the Big Bang is too much of a coincidence and decides to focus on the Blood Syndicate. However there is really no information about the gang members other than one news article from the Dakota Chronicle. Concluding that he has exhausted all of the avenues his life as a lawyer gives him, Icon takes flight to discuss the Syndicate with people who may have come into contact with them.

He first stops at the offices of the Dakota Chronicle to speak with Rob Chaplik, the reporter who wrote about the Syndicate back in the first issues of their title. (Isn’t continuity grand?) Miss Chaplik is excited about Icon showing up at the Chronicle at first, as every reporter would love to interview the city’s newest and grandest hero. Her excitement changes to nervousness; however, when he asks her for details about what the Syndicate said happened on the night of the Big Bang. Rob remembers her taxi ride back to the city of Dakota, where her life was threatened if she ever revealed that information. She begins to break down, telling Icon that she doesn’t know what he means. Icon presses the matter, and Rob begins sobbing, “I did what you told me to, I haven’t told anybody I swear! This is a TEST, isn’t it? You’re one of them! Why are you DOING this to me? I swear I didn’t tell anybody, please don’t kill me!” Icon convinces Rob that he is not one of the mysterious “THEY”, and she calms down. She still doesn’t tell Icon anything however, and Icon moves on to his next potential contact.

Icon flies to police headquarters to speak with Josh Thompson, the head of G.R.I.N.D. – the police departments gang task force. Thompson tells Icon that he is in over his head by checking into the Blood Syndicate:

(Click the scan for a larger version!)

Meanwhile, Raquel has taken her Pregnancy test, and the results are positive – she is pregnant! She does not know what step to take next, her friend however has only one piece of advice: “you better not let your mother find out!” And wouldn’t you know it, the front door to the apartment opens up just as those words tumble out of their mouths as Raquel’s Grandmother asks “Don’t let your Mother find out what? Are you girls up to something?” This would be the point at which the dramatic music would be queued up to play us into the next scene, as we leave Raquel to rejoin Icon in his search for the Blood Syndicate.

Icon is flying around Paris Island looking for answers and what he finds is the following:

(Click the scan for a larger version!)

Looks like Wise Son has given Icon his first nickname – Oreo. (Black on the outside, White on the inside for those who need a translation of the cookie analogy) Wise Son simply takes Icon’s blows as he tells him “You can’t hurt me. NOTHING can hurt me.” Icon takes these words to heart as he tosses Wise Son high into the air, letting land on the pavement beside him. Icon gives his hand to Wise Son to help him up and says to him “Now if you’re quite finished acting out, perhaps we can talk.” His answer comes from behind, as the rest of the Blood Syndicate has arrived on the scene and the Boogeyman tells Icon “Time for talk is OVER… You hurt one of the Blood Syndicate. Now it’s time for WAR!”. The most powerful man in Dakota faces off with the most dangerous gang on Paris Island as our issue comes to a close.

Will Icon resort to violence in his quest for the truth about the Big Bang? Will Raquel keep her baby, and tell her Mom and Grandmother the truth about her condition? You’ll all just have to look for answers in the next issue of Icon my Milestone Minions!

I found this issue of Icon to be a great read, mainly due to the characterization of Icon and Rocket. We really begin to delve into both of our heroes’ lives, as we see Raquel’s home life and her dealing with her pregnancy and Icon working out of his law offices. As entertaining as a super-hero fight can be; if you don’t care about who’s duking it out, it’s just a group of people in tights throwing punches and ruining property. Dwayne McDuffie and Marc Bright are accomplishing this and managing to interweave various pieces of the Big Bang conspiracy to further the development of the Dakotaverse. One letter writer actually sums up my view of this book rather nicely in this issue’s letter column. The letter is as follows:

“Dear Dwayne & CO.,

Just had to drop you a note to let you know how much I’m enjoying ICON. Only two issues into it, and it’s one of the few titles I look forward to avidly.

I know you’re tired of hearing about the “Black Superman” thing, but Icon has more in common with Supes than not – and that one difference, his skin color, makes a WORLD of difference to how he’s perceived. Skillful, elegant ironies.

I think that’s what appeals most to me about the book. It’s first and foremost a character book. The plots come out of the characters’ reactions to the world around them. Knowing that ICON won’t be the same book a year down the line adds weight to everything that happens and makes the anticipation of what is to come all the sweeter.”

The identity of this letter writer you ask? His name is Kurt Busiek, of Astro City and Avengers fame. How about that, your humble columnist and Kurt Busiek share a common opinion about a comic; I guess it is true what they say about great minds thinking alike! On that note I leave you until next week where we will cover the next issue of Hardware!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 pm and is filed under milestone mondays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.