In Image Comics Shift #1, written by Kyle Higgins, with art by Daniele Di Nicuolo, Francesco Manna & Danilo Beyruth, Geraldo Borges, and Chris Evenhuis, the Massive-verse villain takes the spotlight.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Shift #1 Review:
Collecting a few short stories of Shift, a villain tying into Radiant Black and related titles, and adding a new one, this one shot paints a compelling portrait of one of the Massive-verse’s recurring bad guys — and helps flesh out the whole universe.
Host Alex Zalben kicked things off noting that while the podcast has enjoyed the Massive-verse titles, the villains have felt somewhat undefined. “This felt like an essential read in terms of fleshing out [Shift’s] backstory, and how he connects to all of these other characters… It really built him up into being an interesting, fascinating character for me.”
Justin Tyler added that the Massive-verse creators are “so meticulous and smart about the way they deploy different things… These stories really hang together well.” Continued Tyler, “They’re so consistent in their work across the entire Massive-verse. And that’s really hard to do.”
And Pete LePage also liked the issue because, “we’re really expanding and exploring characters in different ways. And things are tying in. Every time I open one of these comics up, I’m blown away by the art, and the art fits into this palette that they’ve set up. So I know I’m in the world just by the artwork… I’m enjoying the exploration that we’re getting with different characters and their motivation.”
Shift #1 Official Synopsis:
He’s tangled with Radiant Black and fought alongside the Dead Lucky—but who’s the man in the suit, and how did he assemble his team of mercenaries? This extra-length one-shot contains the four eight-page SHIFT stories originally released in IMAGE!, plus a brand-new five-page story by SHIFT creators KYLE HIGGINS & DANIELE DI NICUOLO, ahead of SHIFT’s appearance in RADIANT BLACK’s “The Catalyst War”! SHIFT is a Massive-Verse title.
