Written by: Zhou Liefen and Greg Pak
Art by: Keng and Pop Mhan
Colors by: Federico Blee
Letters by: VC’s Jpe Caramagna
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 3, 2019

I am a big fan of Greg Pak so I will always at least pick up a #1 of anything he does. Coming out of Agents of Atlas, this book seemed to be flying under the radar a bit, but that isn’t stopping me! So how was it? Let’s find out.

The first part was written by Zho Liefen with art by Keng and it is a very fast moving introduction that has a dreamy, anime/manga feel to it. We get Aero as she protects Shanghai from sentient buildings that she built herself. Yep, she is an architect as well as a kickass flying superhero and if you haven’t guessed it yet, she has wind powers.

I can’t say that I learned enough about Aero to have a real strong opinion yet, but there is something here that scratches an itch I didn’t really know I had. We do get a flashback that gives us a more personal glimpse of our hero, but again, it feels more like a cool montage from a dream than getting any real, hard facts.

The first story does end with a really cool cliffhanger that is darker than what we got in the previous 20+ pages and has me intrigued…in an odd sort of way. I can’t stress enough that Liefen and Keng have me hooked in a way that I find hard to really describe. I like Aero as a character, but don’t know much about her and her powers. I love the setting and the monsters in this issue, but can’t really grasp exactly what is happening yet. Oh well, I guess it’s a gut feeling thing and my gut tells me to give this series a shot.

The second part is by Greg Pak and Pop Mhan and I already told you I love Pak, but I am also a huge fan of Mhan as well. This part is more straight forward and gives you more Aero but also some Wave and I like both of them.

It begins with a War of the Realms awards ceremony that Wave did not attend and Pak uses that to get Aero and her together to tell a Wave origin story. I really like Wave already and her origin has a little twist that ends with a cool cliffhanger.

I have said it already, but this book scratches an itch I have for something different and Anime/Manga inspired. The art is really good throughout and I am intrigued enough to give the next couple of issues a look see. I do have to take some points off for not getting more information or story, but believe me, I am pretty positive with this one.

Final Thoughts:

This first issue is more about the feel than anything else. It looks great and it gives readers who enjoy manga and anime something you don’t usually get at the Big Two. I think this is one of those books that you’ll know if you like it or not right away so at least check it out and see where you’re at. I know I liked it enough to keep reading.

7.9/10