“Hype” Review

January 27, 2017

“Override Code Hype! I Repeat, Hype!“

If you’re in the mood for a throwback story that is a summary of the 90s genre of shadow governments, confused agents that are primarily weapons of destruction, female scientists that are there to motivate the hero and ambiguous enemies that are simply “targets”, then Jimmy Palmiotti(“Harley Quinn”) & Justin Gray(“Harley Quinn & Power Girl”) have launched a new series for you.

Hype centers it’s narrative around Amanda Marr, a scientist who is currently going through a life & social crisis. She finds herself brought in to a shadow branch of the government in a style that has a similarity to what has been parodied in Team America. Their goal is to create the ultimate soldier with amplified strength and senses, but with the help of Marr, she will be able to find a way to give him cognitive, environmental awareness to make critical decisions during missions.

This leads to several scenes of Marr growing an emotional attachment to her subject(the titularly codenamed “Hype”) and vice-versa. While Amanda is portrayed as colder in the beginning of the issue, her blooming feelings create a path for the character that seems quite sudden and not necessarily developed naturally(which could be possible due to time jumps). Meanwhile, Hype’s personality is a reflection of your average action hero who has either amnesia or overall created in a lab.

Where the issue truly shines is in Javier Pina‘s art. With a key focus of Hype’s abilities relying on his heightened senses and reactions to the world, Pina has a field day. The brief action scenes speak levels within panels, giving a level of detail that stays fluid. He walks out of this issue as the star.

While this may be a shaky start for this character and overall series, it gives a throwback vibe to 90’s Valiant Comics(not the current ones). Palmiotti & Gray have shown their ability to approve from rocky starts in the past. If they can pull through on this one as well, Hype may be able to live up to it’s intense title.