A 3D comic! I’m sorry if i’m biased from the start, but when a publisher pulls their finger out to try something different like this it can only be a good thing. Some cynical jerks see 3D as a gimmick, and in some cases it is, but I can’t help the 8 year old in me… I do read comic books after all.
I’ll begin with the 3D… When you first stick on the glasses, it’s really great. The first few pages are full of action and the 3D really adds to it, the rest of the issue is a bit of a mixed bag, but only because of the great story. I was expecting a one shot comic with loads of bangs and crashes and 3D thrills. Instead, this is a set up for a really good super-hero story with a great take on the Captain Marvel archetype of kids being super-heroes. I won’t spoil it, the point is, as they’re setting up this great story, the 3D gets more and more in the way, it only really works with the action (which is mainly in the first few pages).
The main characters are children, but this never feels specifically ‘for children’. This is super-hero fantasy at its very core, and it does it very well. Brian Haberlin knows exactly why we read comics and he’s written a story to appeal to the child in everyone. It’s really good.
The art is great, you can read it without wearing the glasses and admire the work that went into this comic, the 3D can over power the art quite severely, so I would suggest giving it a read without them. The character models, including Captain Wonder himself, are very unoriginal. From the curl in his hair to his heat vision, he’s certainly a dead ringer for that jerk Superman, but it sort of makes sense for him to look like that, given his origins. If you think that’s a bit of a cop out you’d be dead right.
Captain Wonder 3D is great, though I feel it’s suffered a bit for being in 3D. I know why they’ve done it, there’s a thousand other comics in the shops that all look the same but none of them are in 3D. This one is, so it stands out a bit. Fair play, I don’t know if I would have picked it up if it hadn’t have been for the 3D, but I’m glad I did, it’s a great read… does this mean the 3D WAS a gimmick and I’m a sucker?
Joe Innes.
