Aero #1 // Review
Writer Zhou Liefen brings a new character to life in the first issue of her own book as Marvel presents the debut of Aero. Liefen brings a city defender to life with sparklingly novel framing in a debut issue drawn by artist Keng. Keng and Liefen bring a strikingly heroic personality to the page in the form of architect Lei Ling. As an architect, she’s looking to transform the city of Shanghai...making it beautiful one building at a time. When the city is threatened, she uses high-flying superpowers to defend Shanghai as the super-heroine Aero.
As the issue opens, Aero is introduced, engaging in a battle with a ridiculously powerful being that dwarfs her in size. She’s a superhero architect, and she’s up against evil the size of a building. There’s a good reason for that: it used to be one. To make matters worse, it used to be a building that Aero designed as an architect. It was her vision that built it. It’s her power that must bring it down as strange magics have turned it into a giant menace to Shanghai.
Liefen frames an exciting opening to Aero’s first issue. On the surface, it’s a simple battle, but by making the battle against something she built that has been turned into a monster, there’s instant empathy for the character. Even if she wins, she loses. She may be far from New York, but Aero is right at home in the Marvel Universe with so many other heroes with so many similar problems. It may be a bit of a challenge in future issues for Liefen to keep Aero from blurring together with a comic rack awash in so many other heroes, but Aero certainly feels fresh in her first issue.
Keng brings quite a bit of impact to the page in an extensive, sweeping action sequence at the beginning of the first issue. Aero’s clean, white appearance gives her an angelic appearance as she shoots through the sky at a grey concrete giant. The blur of the action feels powerfully kinetic. The action certainly has an impact. The drama feels every bit as compelling. Keng’s challenge in issues to come is going to be very similar to Liefen’s. Specifics aside, the first issue isn’t really giving the reader anything terribly new. The first issue makes an impression visually. The challenge is going to maintain a powerful impact in the issues to come.
There’s a back-up story of Aero’s origin that feels pretty dull and traditional. Writer Greg Pak and artist Pop Mhan deliver a very classic superhero origin story that feels a bit rushed in contrast to Liefen and Keng’s epic battle between one woman who can control air and an invasion of massive monsters from another world. It appears as though the new ongoing series is going to start with a dual-story structure. The feature story at the beginning of the issue has Aero dealing with the present as the back-up feature has a tale of her origin. There may be questions about the possibility of her longevity, but Aero comes across as an admirably badass hero in her first outing under her own title
