Posted in: Comics, Image, Review | Tagged: Atilio Rojo, Bryan Hill, cyber force, image comics, marc silvestri, matt hawkins, sci-fi, top cow

Cyber Force #1 Review: A Revival with No Fresh Life

A mysterious armored figure perpetrates a terrorist attack, killing countless numbers of people but leaving a man named Stryker alive. A mysterious organization gets permission from Stryker's daughter, Caren, to use cybernetic enhancements to save and improve her father. All the while, the terrorist continues to perpetrate attacks against technological centers while claiming to be freeing us from our technological idolatry.

Stryker survives and awakens with his new body. He's not happy about it, either.

Cyber Force #1 sits at that intersection between Robocop, the Six Million Dollar Man, DC Comics' Cyborg. Stryker is now a cyborg, he's not sure how in control of his body he is anymore, and he thinks his body is no longer his own.

What's striking about Cyber Force #1 is how uninspired it all feels. Everything about it has been done before and better by other properties. This premise has been done in varying degrees before. Even the name conveys a level of bog-standard cyborg adventure.

The villain's speech about technology is vague and broad. It makes her look like an absolute luddite despite wearing an Iron Man suit. Stryker's rage about being made into a cyborg is immediate and seemingly without reason. The organization that saved him is nebulous and vaguely sinister.

Going back to Stryker being mad about being a superhero: why? He doesn't know anything about what he's become, but he immediately flips out. I personally think it would be cool to have cybernetic superpowers, and I say this as someone who loves Cyborg, "am I man or machine?" questions and all.

Yes, I am aware that Cyber Force is a pre-existing property, by the way. However, the story could have still been given more fresh material to make this revival feel worthwhile.

Beyond that, the art is solid. Atilio Rojo brings to life a detailed world full of visually distinct characters. The design of the cybernetics is unique. The color is well-balanced and maintained.

The addition of the daughter who is unable to walk is a decent twist, even if it is a little ableist.

Cyber Force #1 isn't a horrible comic, but it's not good either. All its ideas are bog-standard for the subgenre it inhabits, and it bores as a result. Solid artwork can't save a bland story. Give this one a pass.

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