Written by: RFI Porto
Art by: Gavin Smith
Colorist: Tim Yates
Editor: Thomas Mumme
Published by: Blue Juice Comics
If you are not currently reading The Accelerators you need to start now!! Things are beginning to speed up in the world of Spatz, and the Captain aka The Major as they continue learning about time travel, and battle in the arena against suped up samurais. And if you have been reading from the beginning (which I know you have been) we see the long awaited return (for me anyway) of Lex!!
This issue is laid out little different from the previous 3. It shows current events but also gives you a back story of Lex and the Captain and how they became involved in the Accelerators project. While the first issue of this series shows them trying to kill one another, this one shows that they were once a happily married couple living in the 60’s.
Meanwhile in present (or future depending on how you choose to look at it) times, the arena’s beloved Major is starting his toughest fight to date as he takes on the “new and improved” samurai. Judging by the almost robotic nature of the new samurai it should be safe to assume that the Major is doomed (which would leave us only one main character in the title); however the brain of the man the samurai once was is still in his body somewhere and he knows the arena fighting isn’t right, he sacrifices himself and inspires the Major to fight to take down the power! Major is definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with for the arena organizers.
Spats has a smaller, but very important role in all of the things that are going on. While with Bob (who is still female) he learns that his future self has done a lot to make sure that his past self knows that he knows what to do right now, even though it takes him some time to figure it out. After watching a part of the arena games between the Major and the samurai he is taken to the “fishing machines” which are how people are “fished” from the past and sent to become contestants for the arena games (don’t worry no past events can be altered, that would just be silly). When Bob leaves him alone with the control room worker, Spatz gets an idea and before you know it a familiar red headed scientist (Lex!) is among them and she looks sort of confused. Will Lex, Spatz and the Major/Captain reunite in the next issue? That will be determined in the future. (Unless you have an accelerator, in which case I’m jealous)
This issue is my favorite issue to date. The information you get is really incredible and the artwork is AMAZING!! It has 8 yes 8 double page spreads and they are one of the highlights of this comic for sure. Gavin and Tim did an fantastic job with them and everything flowed together perfectly. However, now that they have shown they can conquer that many spreads they are going to have to find a way to top themselves.
The story was extremely solid as well. Sometimes throwing a back story into a comic can make things confusing, and when dealing with time travel even more confusion can happen. However Porto has yet to ever confuse me (and I can sometimes be easily confused), and instead continues to keep my interest. I knew these three characters would be reunited and I can’t wait to see what they do next!!
The Accelerators is a must read!
Side note: if you have trouble finding this title in your comic store, don’t fear! Their website http://www.bluejuicecomics.com has all 4 issues and they can ship them directly to you!
5 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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