“Yesterday’s” Comic> Prime #2 (Ultraverse)

“Come here and say that again.”

Prime #2

Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (July, 1993)

“Hunted”

WRITERS: Gerald Jones & Len Strazewski

ARTIST: Norm Breyfogle

COLORIST: Keith Conroy

LETTERER: Tim Eldred

EDITOR: Chris Ulm

I should note, based on Malibu being raided for their coloring process, that the colorist/color designer is usually listed on the bottom of the credits. They really had that much faith in computer coloring back then. Now even I do it.

Kevin finally returns home, naked and supposedly amnesiac. Or maybe it’s seeing Prime on the news while in the ER that reminds him he was Prime. The next day at school news of his disappearance and strange return has his fellow students, including his friend Kelly, afraid to talk with him, though Kelly is happy to talk about her encounter with Prime. During class, Kevin starts to get on edge and the “change” begins again. He manages to get out of class by pretending to be sick, and since it’s final class he decides to meet up with, and show off for, Kelly. That’s when he’s attacked by a monster sent by the agents to capture him. He manages to get Kelly to one of her friends house after beating down the monster, but it regenerates and in his softer state manages to capture Prime.

What they got right: The “next time” blurb says we’ll learn the origin next month, so I guess continuing to keep the reader in the dark was intended for a reason. There’s some decent action. Kevin/Prime is clearly seeing his superheroing through a 1990s teenage perspective, the start of the grimdark period of comics, so his attitude makes sense and hopefully he’ll grow out of it. “Organism 8” is a good foil for the newly minted hero. Despite being interested in Kelly, Kevin has second thoughts after the monster’s first attack put her in danger. There may be a hero inside there after all…

What they got wrong: …with some instruction because trying to excuse what he thinks is killing a monster isn’t it. The 1990s had a few problems, and one of the big ones shows up here: there’s a whole lot of action but not much story.

What I think overall: I’m starting to see my issues with 90s comics appear, but I’m still interested enough to at least see his origin and the rest of the issues marked “essential” in the reading order I’m going by.