“Yesterday’s” Comic> The Henchman #1

Why is your Superman stand-in dressing like your Aquaman stand-in?

The Henchman #1

Underling Entertainment (2020)

WRITER/CREATOR: Greg Smith

ARTIST: Sal Donaire

COLORIST: Maksim “Keeper” Strelkov

LETTERER: Olga Timofeeva

Doctor Ballistic breaks into the high rise laboratory in Millenium City to get a crystal that his arch-enemy, Justice Man, can be weakened by. He’s rather surprised when the hero, feeling pain for the first time, goes into a rage and kills the henchmen, and would have killed him had the police not shown up to arrest him. One henchman survived and managed to escape, but when his boss won’t pay him (and even tries to bump him off), Pike tries to steal some of his weapons…but someone’s waiting for him.

What they got right: The concept is rather different. What happens when the henchman gets screwed over and tries to do something about it? These are villains we’re talking about. It’s a take on the superhero universe we don’t see much of unless the henchman is getting redeemed or made sympathetic. Pretty sure this guy killed innocent people. No sympathy here.

What they got wrong: So do later issues tell whether or not Justice Man gets called out for his actions, or was this just the writer wanting to do another dark take on Superman that only serves to motivate Pike? Pretty sure you could have used a Punisher type and been fine. Yes, he acted out in first experience of pain, and he does seem to be conflicted for the moment, but there’s a potential story there as well I’d like to see them take a look at.

What I think overall: I’m not usually into the villains, so this is more of a curiosity for me, but this does start out well. It might be worth checking out when I’m able to get more issues.