Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Phil Hester
Artist: Brent Peeples
Colourist: Morgan Hickman
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99
Any comic book fan born in the 1950’s will have a special place in their hearts for Turok, Son of Stone, Magnus, Robot Fighter and Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom. These characters and many more were part of a whole pantheon of superheroes, created in the dawning of the comic book age, that formed the bedrock of the comic book industry. It’s probably fair to say that without these characters there would be no comic book industry and with the right breaks we would be queuing outside the multiplexes today to watch their adventures leap out of the big screen in 3D. But it just wasn’t to be. As a select few of their contemporaries went from strength to strength, most of the original characters went on to suffer the indignity of cancellation and obscurity.
But you can’t keep a good hero down and Magnus, Turok and Solar have been quietly beavering away in the background ever since their creation in the 1950’s and 1960’s, moving from publisher to publisher, undergoing multiple re-boots and even branching out into video games as well as comic books.
Dynamite Entertainment have teamed them up in Gold Key Alliance #3, along with a post-apocalyptic adventurer character called Samson from the same era that somehow escaped my eagle-eyed attention way back then, in their latest attempt to establish them as a new(ish) and recognisable force for today’s comic book audience to enjoy. Needless to say, their backstory has undergone the inevitable re-vamp: Magnus is now secret agent of sorts monitoring artificial intelligence and robotics, Turok is a reality TV star and park ranger, Solar has had a sex change and is now a young doctor on a mercy mission in Africa and Samson is a homeless man ranting at unseen monsters.
In Gold Key Alliance #3, our four heroes are separated and fighting their own battles, each one experiencing flashbacks to previous lives; well, when you’ve been through as many publishers as they have it would get kind of confusing. Each individual storyline is complex and satisfying in its own right but the fanboy inside me can’t wait for them to team up to take on the bad guy, after all, it does have the word ‘Alliance’ in the title, right? Exactly who the bad guy might be and what his motives are isn’t particularly clear except that he has a very dodgy goatee which is probably motive enough, but that really doesn’t matter.
If you love classic, original, comic book characters re-invented for the 21st century you will love Gold Key Alliance #3. They say that patience is a virtue but fifty plus years is a long time to wait to see your favourite characters finally get the prominence they deserve. And in Gold Key Alliance #3, something tells me it’s going to be worth the wait.
Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker