Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Hell Yeah #1Hell Yeah #1
Image Comics
Keating & Szymanowicz

Hell Yeah is one of those comics that comes along and puts a slight twist on a concept that makes the book stand out like a breath of fresh air. The book's synopsis sounds familiar in so many ways. A cocky, smart, young adult with a pair of super powered parents is struggling to find his own identity and way in life. He's got a female companion, who isn't his girlfriend – yet. But not all is well, which we find out at the end of the book. The book is written very well and contains excellent artwork to go with the character driven story. Between that and the cliffhanger you have a very good comic book and a reason to come back next month.

Ben Day is enrolled in school for the extraordinarily gifted. He's the son of super-powered parents, but his Dad seems to be the key to the entire super-powered generation. His father, Dan Day, was rescued during the Gulf War, by the first appearance of super heroes. It's not clear how the heroes surfaced or how or why Dan, and subsequently Ben, received their powers but the general set up is all in this book.

Years later, Ben is trying to figure out his place in life at this special school. He is friendly with a girl named Sarah, who is determined to figure out what makes him tick. His Dad appears to be retired as evidenced by his clothing attire and beer belly. For the most part, Ben is living in his Dad's shadow. Everything explodes in an unexpected way at the end of the book.

The book's story is fast moving and, by book's end, you have a pretty good feel for Ben, Dan and Sarah's characters. The book excels at mysteries. Cliffhanger aside, you still have the strange choice to leave the mother off panel at every turn and the mysterious barcode tattoo on the back of Ben's neck, as a couple of examples. The comic uses these little tidbits to help standout from the many other "real world" super hero stories that already exist.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsSzymanowicz makes this issue a visual delight. Szymanowicz channels his inner Frank Quitely by making the panels detailed with carefully placed inks. His characters aren't muscular and have a certain level of fluidness to them as if they move within the panels. His work is very different from that of his work in Elephantmen. I think he excelled the most in the flashback panels where you can clearly see the details in the mostly black and white panels. The visual of the head exploding is worth the price of admission alone.

Hell Yeah is just another example of a well-crafted story backed up by terrific art. The comic book is thirty-two pages of story for $3, so it's a real bargain in this day and age. I think if you like super hero comics, mysteries, science fiction or character driven stories then you won't be disappointed. I definitely recommend checking this out.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles